The Phone Call
by teddyshoney
Summary: Dave is living his life in New York City when he gets a phone call from Blaine that might change his future. WARNING: This is an age play story and may contain spanking or mentions of spanking.
1. The Phone Call

Dave's phone had vibrated in his pocket several times on his way home from the grocery store. He hadn't bothered to check it, though, opting not to set down all the strategically placed bags in his hands until he was home. Once he'd plunked everything down, however, he pulled his cell from his pocket and quickly scanned the home screen. He had two new texts, one from his boss and one from a work buddy asking about golfing this weekend. A new voicemail from Blaine caught his eye, and he put the phone to his ear to listen as he began to put his groceries away.

The message was short and to the point, and Dave could hear the mix of relief and anxiety in his former lover's voice. _"Hey, Dave. It's Blaine. I—I wanted to ask you about something. Call me back when you get a chance, please. Bye."_

Dave almost thought he could hear—but no. He shook himself. Blaine probably just wanted to ask a question about his fantasy football league or something. Dave was, after all, the only sports agent Blaine knew, and Blaine took all competitions seriously, even if it was just fantasy football. Dave was sure Blaine couldn't want anything too important, but nevertheless, he dialed Blaine's number and waited for him to pick up as he opened the refrigerator and began to put away his cold groceries.

Blaine was sitting in his mostly dark living room, only one lamp on at the end of the couch closest to him. Kurt had gone to the gym, and Blaine was doing nothing, just picking at his fingernails and fretting. He was worried that Dave wouldn't call him back, but he almost hoped that he wouldn't. He was lost in thought, playing scenarios over and over again in his head, paying no attention to what was going on around him. So, when his phone rang, he jumped. He picked up his phone with trembling fingers, checking to see Dave's name on the ID before answering.

"Hello?" He was sure Dave could hear how nervous he sounded.

"Hey, Blaine. What's up?"

"Oh, you know." Phone pressed to his ear, Blaine chewed on his bottom lip for a second. "How are you?"

Dave couldn't help but smile a bit as he finished putting away the groceries, kicked off his shoes by the front door, and headed to the living room to sit down. Blaine was sounding odd, and Dave remembered fondly how cute Blaine looked whenever he was nervous. "Everything's going good for me." Dave gave him a moment to respond but when he was met with silence, he decided to prompt Blaine. "Did you want me to call so we could sit in silence?" he asked quietly, voice low.

Blaine started a bit. He was so nervous about what he needed to say, he'd gotten lost in his head again. "Um, no." Another long pause. "I'm just not really sure how to ask you this."

"Just say it, Blaine. I'm sure it's fine."

Dave heard a heavy sigh from the other end. He picked up a magazine and began flipping through, knowing he'd just have to wait Blaine out. Whenever he got like this, faced with something he needed to say but couldn't bring himself to, Dave had learned that silent patience always drew it out of him.

Blaine stared at the carpet, making a shape out of a few loose carpet threads in his mind. Finally, he spoke quietly. "Just listen 'til I get all the way through, please. Okay?"

Dave set the magazine aside and switched the phone to his other ear. "Okay."

Blaine sighed again and picked up a pen to doodle on the notepad next to him. "I'm sure you know that after Kurt and I got married, we moved up here to New York." Blaine's voice was soft but so full of emotion that Dave tried to center in on it, give it his full attention. Whatever this was, he'd been wrong. It was important. "Kurt and I both went back to school after we got settled up here, and we got part time jobs. Everything, for the most part, has been really great. We spend evenings together, mostly, and we're happy. But now that finals are coming up, we're both really stressed. We've been fighting a lot and Kurt—we...never really relax. So..." Blaine took a deep breath, down to the most serious part of his conversation with Dave. "So, I was wondering if you would be willing to start...if we could try the type of relationship you and I had for a while." The last part of Blaine's speech came out in a rush, and Dave had to take a minute to process it.

"Have you talked with Kurt about this?"

"No. I mean, not yet."

Dave ran a hand through his hair, leaning back further into the couch. "How do you know that he'll be open to this?"  
"I don't, for sure, but he shows some signs."

Dave nodded, though Blaine couldn't see him. "Having a relationship like that is a big deal. You need to bring it up gently and give him plenty of time to think."

"I know. But, Dave..." Blaine dropped his head, trying to find the resolve to restate his point. He didn't think Dave had gotten it. "I want you to be there," he tried again.

Dave's brow furrowed. "Won't Kurt be uncomfortable if I'm there while you're discussing a private part of your lives?"

"Not if it involves you."

"Involves me?"

Blaine sighed, then said in the softest voice Dave had ever heard, "I want you to be our...Daddy."

Dave didn't respond for a bit, his brain moving rapidly between screaming "no" emphatically and considering the idea. Running a hand over his head, Dave finally answered. "...I dunno, Blaine."

"I know this is an odd request, Dave," Blaine rushed. "But, I just remember how much it helped me, back when you and I were together. And I know Kurt might not like it so much right away, but I think he'd warm up to it. Please." Blaine hated to sound like he was begging, but he'd thought this over several times. He knew it could work. He was riddled with anxiety about it, but he knew it could work.

Dave took in several deep breaths, caught up in indecision. "Blaine, I—I'm just not sure. It was one thing when we were together, but I'm afraid Kurt will think I'm meddling in your relationship or trying to get you back."

Blaine scoffed at that. "We're married now, Dave. Not dating. There is no 'getting me back.'" He was going to say more, but he heard Kurt's keys jingling at the lock. "Kurt's here," he said in a whisper. "Think about it and text me." With that, Blaine hung up.

Dave let the phone fall into his lap unceremoniously. That was not at all how he'd expected his phone call with Blaine to go. This was...big. Really big. And a decision about it seemed to be resting on his shoulders, currently.

He needed a beer. Going to the fridge, Dave popped the top off an ice cold bottle and took a long swig. The bitter flavor that coated his mouth and throat helped to clear his head. Sitting back down with his beer, a pad of paper, and a pen, Dave set to work on a pros and cons list.

On one hand, Dave felt pretty strongly that Kurt would not like this plan. He would think it was meddling. Even though Kurt and Dave had patched up most problems from their high school days, there were still some unresolved feelings about Dave and Blaine dating during the Anderson-Hummel's final break up. Dave was pretty sure that his and Blaine's history would throw up some major red flags for Kurt. Not to mention that while nearly two years had passed, and they had seen each other at random gatherings in Lima, Dave wasn't sure that Kurt knew he was in New York, though Blaine seemed to. Even if he did know, Kurt liked to keep things in his relationships pretty quiet. He wouldn't want to air his and Blaine's dirty laundry to Dave. Dave wasn't a marriage counselor. This didn't seem like a very good idea.

On the other hand, Dave knew that Blaine really did thrive under that sort of relationship. He had been angsty and mean with Dave at the start of their time together, always on edge and prone to anxiety and anger episodes. Dave had brought up the possibility of starting something new one night after a particularly awful date in which Blaine spent the majority of dinner complaining about how Dave didn't fold the laundry correctly and how they needed to find a way to cut back on energy consumption because the bill was too high.

Blaine had resisted the idea at first, but after trying it out one Saturday, he admitted to Dave that he felt a lot calmer. He liked not having to handle the stress of everyday things, relished just being able to enjoy things that made him happy without worrying about the consequences, most of the time. He wasn't a big fan o f punishments; Dave was pretty strict and had a firm hand, but Blaine did admit that the guilt was gone after his punishments. Plus, Dave was good to snuggle with, and he was a pro at reading stories. So, Blaine was happy to play as often as they could.

Dave also found that he really enjoyed taking care of Blaine. He was a nurturer at heart, and he thrived on seeing the people he cared about happy and healthy. He also noticed a big change in Blaine as they went on with their relationship. Blaine became more relaxed and level-headed, willing to talk things out with Dave rather than yell about them, even when they weren't playing.

Their breakup was hard for both of them, and losing that part of the relationship especially. Dave felt the emptiness for quite a while after the two of them split. And even though he'd dated around a bit, he still hadn't found anyone long term.

Dave sat back and checked his list. His pros list looked a little longer than the cons, but that didn't really help the nervousness in his stomach. What if he made the wrong decision?

Finally, he pulled out his phone and texted Blaine.

Thursday, 7:15pm: _Blaine, I'm willing to talk about this with the two of you. But you have to tell Kurt first._

Thursday, 7:16pm: _Help me!_

7:18pm: _With what?_

7:18pm: _Telling Kurt!_

7:19pm: _He's your husband. You need to tell him._

7:21pm: _But what do I say?_

Dave grinned. He could practically hear the whine in Blaine's voice.

7:22pm: _Just be honest. Tell him what you want._

7:22pm: _Can you come over for dinner tomorrow night?_

7:23pm: _Will you be ready by then? You'll have told him?_

7:23pm: _Can you come or not?_

7:24pm: _Sure. But I'm serious, Blaine._

7:25pm: _Bring a bottle of wine. See you tomorrow. And thanks._

7:26pm: _No problem. See you tomorrow._

Dave sighed. It was only 7:30pm, but he already felt exhausted. He needed another beer. That didn't seem to help him take his mind off of what Blaine had asked, however. Neither did watching TV or reading. For some reason, little images of the "family" they could be kept plaguing him.

He could see himself sitting on the couch, Kurt on one side, Blaine on the other. The two boys would be curled into his side, listening intently as they read together.

Or he could see them on the floor, playing with Legos, the boys on their stomachs, giggling as they worked together to build a town.

He could also see himself tucking the two of them into bed, laying a kiss to each forehead before turning out the light and leaving the door cracked just a bit.

It all seemed so...perfect, but Dave wanted to kick himself for obsessing over the idea. It was very likely that Kurt would not agree, and even if he did, the two of them could always tell him to leave whenever they wanted. He would be nothing more to them than the guy they did scenes with sometimes. That made him very sad, and he wondered for a moment if he could handle that. But, he knew, he loved the two of them enough that he would. He'd been in love with both of them, after all, at one point or another.

Eventually, Dave decided to just go to bed. This day was shot anyway, and he had a long day of work before dinner with Kurt and Blaine tomorrow. So, he got himself ready, laying down and switching off the light. He was pleased that he was able to fall asleep quickly, but he was less than thrilled that his dreams all revolved around the possibility of taking care of people he truly cared about once again.


	2. Having Dinner

Dave knocked three times on Kurt and Blaine's apartment door, then stood back and waited, shifting from foot to foot. He'd gone to the store after work and picked up a bottle of sweet red wine before taking the subway over. He clutched the bottle, still wrapped in its brown paper bag, in his right hand. He was honestly a little nervous about dinner, not knowing what kind of mood Kurt would be in after learning of Blaine's plan to include Dave in an intimate part of their lives.

Blaine pulled open the apartment door, a large smile lighting up his face. "Hey, Dave. Thanks for coming over! Come on in!"

As Dave stepped into the brightly lit apartment, Blaine pulled him into a hug, rising up onto his toes to whisper into Dave's ear. "I haven't told Kurt yet."

He pushed Blaine back. "What?"

Blaine grinned sheepishly. "I was too nervous. I need help."

"Blaine! That was the one thing I asked you to do before I got involved. I think I should go. You two aren't ready," Dave hissed.

"Honey, it's Dave!" Blaine called over his shoulder.

"Hi, Dave!" came Kurt's response, slightly muffled, from the direction of the kitchen.

Dave glared at Blaine. "I'm very disappointed in you."

"This is better," Blaine assured him, leading him toward the kitchen. "Kurt will be more accepting if we tell him together." He took the bottle of wine from Dave as they entered the kitchen. Sliding it out of the bag, he quickly glanced at the label. "This looks good, Dave," he complimented as he set it in the middle of the table. "Thanks for the wine."

"Hi, Dave," Kurt greeted again as he wiped his hands on a towel before approaching to give Dave a one armed hug. "Thanks for coming over tonight. Blaine said you wanted to talk to us about something, and I'm so curious about what you have to say, coming out of the blue!" Kurt returned his attention to whatever was cooking on the stove, so he missed the dark glare that Dave gave Blaine.

"Yes, it will be an interesting conversation," he managed to bite out. "But-"

"But he'd really rather save it for after dinner," Blaine cut in. "Wouldn't you, Dave?" He fixed him with a meaningful look, begging.

"Uh, yeah. That's right," Dave fumbled, unsure why he was giving in to dishonest Blaine. "I'd like to just catch up first; it's been so long since I've seen the two of you."

"It has been a while, hasn't it?" Kurt replied, back still toward the other two. "Something like three years I think." He made eye contact with Dave as he turned toward a cabinet that Dave was standing near. "How did you end up in New York?" he asked, moving toward him.

"Well," Dave began, rubbing at the back of his neck. He wasn't very comfortable with small talk when his brain wanted to focus on the problem at hand. "I'm working for the Giants as a sporting agent. I work on setting up PR opportunities for them, schedule interviews, things like that." He watched as Blaine leaned against the counter, resting his head against a cabinet and closing his eyes. He didn't move as Dave spoke, and he began to wonder if maybe Blaine was feeling more nervous than he'd realized.

"The Giants?" Kurt asked from the stove, breaking his train of thought.

"New York's NFL team?" Dave replied, incredulous.

"Oh!" Kurt chuckled. "I don't follow sports. That's more of a Blaine thing."

Dave laughed at that. "Well, I guess that hasn't changed from high school." He paused, then continued, "I landed the job almost right out of college thanks to a buddy of mine, and I've been living in a small apartment no too far from the subway."

"That's nice," Kurt mused as he began putting steaming dishes on the table.

There was an awkward minute of silence where no one knew quite what to say. Dave stood nervously near the small dining table, trying to catch Blaine's eye. He watched as the other man pinched the bridge of his nose and rolled his shoulders. Kurt continued busing dishes to the table, oblivious to the silent conversation Dave was trying to have with Blaine.

It was Kurt who broke the silence. "Dinner is served," he said proudly, gesturing to the table loaded with steaming bowls of food.

That announcement got Blaine moving. "Everything smells great, Kurt!" he exclaimed, pushing himself away from the counter and toward the table. "You can sit there, Dave," he told the man, gesturing to a chair across from the one he was pulling out for himself.

Dave seated himself and waited patiently as Blaine poured them each a glass of wine, and Kurt served the food. He managed to somehow make it through the meal, engaging in small talk as best he could. His mind was racing, however, trying to come up with a way to make the conversation they were about to have go smoothly. Eventually, he settled on the truth.

So, when all the dinner dishes had been put away and all three of them were seated in the Anderson-Hummel living room with cups of coffee, Dave was feeling fairly relaxed. He sipped at his drink, only half listening as Kurt and Blaine joked about a moment they'd had at the Lima Bean some years back. He silently wondered at Kurt and Blaine's ability to hide any problems they were having so well. The way they were joking and smiling at one another, everyone would think they were content together.

"So, Dave," Kurt interrupted him and his thoughts, "what did you want to talk to us about?"

Dave cleared his throat, a bit of nervousness creeping back in. "Well," he said, "Blaine called me last night."

Kurt swiveled in his seat, looking from Dave to Blaine and back to Dave. His eyes were wide, confused. "He did? You did?" he questioned them.

Blaine nodded.

"And why didn't you tell me?"

Blaine shrugged.

"What did you call him about?"

When Blaine didn't answer, Dave took pity on him. "He called to ask for my help." He paused, hoping Blaine would be ready to jump in, but when he looked at the expression on the younger man's face, all he could see was apprehension. Dave really wanted to scoop Blaine up and tell him everything was going to be okay, but he didn't really know if it would be yet. So, he forged ahead under Kurt's critical eye. "Blaine shared with me that the two of you have been under a lot of stress lately, with finals and jobs and such, and he said that it was causing the two of you to fight. He told me that you're having a difficult time finding a chance to relax, and he wanted to know if I could help."

"How could you help?" Kurt bit out, clearly upset by Dave's little speech.

"When Blaine and I were dating," he winced as Kurt cringed at the memory, "we used to..." he trailed off. He was unsure how to describe it without making it sound immediately appalling.

Luckily for Dave, Blaine saved him. "Age play," he muttered.

"I'm sorry?" Kurt replied, turning his piercing gaze on his husband.

"We would age play," Blaine repeated, voice stronger. "Not in a sexual way; it was a way to help me relax and work through my problems and anxieties."

"What does that mean?" Kurt bit out, definitely upset now.

"Well..." Dave began, trying to think of the best way to explain this without completely making Kurt shut down, "Well, we would—I mean, Blaine would—uh, Blaine would be more of a...baby."

"A baby?"

"He would regress. To a much younger Blaine. And I would take care of him."

Kurt looked from one man to another, trying to gauge if they were messing with him. Finally, he just asked, "Are you trying to pull something? What are you talking about? How is this going to help me?"

"It helped me to not feel so stressed. I got to just...relax for a while, not have any responsibilities other than listen to my-" Blaine cut off, not wanting to say the word out loud.

"Your what?" Kurt pressed.

"My...daddy," Blaine whispered, looking everywhere but at the two men sitting in the room with him. His face was red, and he honestly looked like he wanted to cry.

Kurt wasn't sure how to feel about all this. On one hand, ew. Blaine and Dave had been into some weird stuff when they were together, and the memory of the time when he thought he'd lost his best friend was not something he wanted to dwell on. But the look on Blaine's face made him feel just the tiniest bit bad. It was obvious that he really thought this might help them, and his own angry reactions weren't helping anything.

Blaine was expecting a fight. The expressions Kurt was making were making his tummy twist in unpleasant ways with anxiety and fear, and he wanted to just melt into the floor. Kurt was mad, they were going to fight, Dave would leave, and everything would be like it had been: a constant state of unrest. Blaine loved Kurt; he loved him with his whole being. But, he wasn't sure he could take any more of the tension from the stress and little spats they continued to have.

Dave wanted to go home. None of this was how he'd imagined the evening going. The whole room was tense. He could feel Kurt's anger and Blaine's fear while his own anxiety palpitated in his ears. It was obvious that Blaine and Kurt needed help, but he wasn't sure that he could be their help. Everything seemed really intense and awkward, and he almost wished that Blaine had never called him.

One thing that Blaine seemed to frequently forget about his husband, however, was one of the first things he'd ever complimented him on when they first met. "You always zig when I think you're about to zag." And Kurt didn't fail to surprise this time either. "Tell me more," he said quietly.

Both Blaine and Dave gave him a look of shock. "What? What did you say?" Blaine asked.

"I said, 'tell me more.' If this is something you want me to try, I need to know more."

"Are you saying that you want to do it?" Blaine was beside himself. This was not how he'd imagined Kurt reacting, not in a million years.

"Maybe. It sounds weird," he smiled apologetically at his husband, "and I don't really understand it. If you explain it to me, though, maybe."

Blaine couldn't help the grin that spread across his face. "I'll take weird." He turned to fully face Kurt, placing a shaky hand on his knee and leaning in close to his ear. "Does this mean you aren't mad at me?" he whispered. He knew now wasn't really the time for that question, but his anxiety about the whole situation wasn't going to let it rest until he knew.

Kurt kissed his cheek quickly, whispering, "I can't be mad at you for trying to help." He gave Blaine his best smile and squeezed the hand that lay on his knee. Turning his full attention to Dave, he said, "What can you tell me?"

Dave wasn't sure what to do. He hadn't expected Kurt to be so amicable, and this sudden change in emotion was throwing him for a loop. But, judging by the look on Blaine's face, it must be genuine, so Dave decided to plunge in. "Well, I'm not sure what you want to know," he told the man honestly. "When I was with Blaine," he began, not missing the cringe again at the mention. He really wished there was a way not to bring it up, but it had to be said. If he was going to be a part of this, it was something Kurt was going to have to get used to. "When I was with Blaine, he was stressed out all the time. He was working, he wanted to be in school, and honestly, though I didn't realize it at the time, he missed you. The stress would make him angry and irritable, and we were fighting a lot."

"We're going through that right now, actually," Kurt admitted, settling back into the couch and opening his arm in an invitation for Blaine to snuggle in. "Things have been very...tense...around here."

Dave nodded. "So, I was doing some research on relaxation techniques. We tried a lot of things, and none of them seemed to be doing the job. Blaine had too much on his plate." Dave cast a quick glance in Blaine's direction. He was watching him closely, and when he caught his gaze, Blaine gave him a quick smile and nod. "So," he went on, "I looked for other, more unorthodox, answers. I happened to run across an article that someone had written on infantilism, and I-"

"Infantilism?" Kurt questioned.

"Being a baby," Blaine jumped in. "Using diapers and bottles and stuff. I was never a baby. I was older."

"Right," Dave said. "There were things in that article that I liked but not everything, so I kinda discarded the idea. Later, though, I ran across some more articles, this time on age play, and everything seemed to click."

"I didn't want to, at first," Blaine admitted, squirming a bit on the couch so he could make eye contact with Kurt as he spoke. "I told him no. But, Dave was persistent. He'd bring it up whenever I was feeling stressed. He'd ask if I'd like a bath or for me to read to him, and those things sounded really nice."

"So, you did agree?" Kurt asked.

"Eventually. And it turned out to be one of the best things that we did."

"What did you do?" Kurt wanted to know, looking back and forth between the two of them.

"Well, I took care of Blaine. I'd make him dinner, give him a bath, read him a bedtime story, and put him to bed. Sometimes we'd play with toys or games. We didn't do it all the time, but the longer we did it, the more we did it. It was really good for him."

"He called you 'Daddy'?" Kurt questioned. "Were you, like, in charge of him?"

"Sort of. There were rules."

"And consequences," Blaine grimaced.

Kurt raised an eyebrow. "Consequences?'

"Yeah. If I broke the rules."

"And what were those?"

Blaine tensed in Kurt's arms. "Um, time out," he said carefully. "Mouth washing. Spankings."

"Spankings?"

Blaine was too embarrassed to answer, so he said nothing, studying his hands as they twisted in his lap.

Dave took pity on him and responded, "They didn't happen very often. I only did that when he broke a rule we had talked about in the beginning."

"And...you would—you would do that again?" Kurt asked nervously.

"We would talk about it," was all Dave would say.

Kurt wasn't sure what to say. On one hand, he really didn't want to do this. He didn't want anyone else to be involved in his relationship with Blaine, and he especially didn't want anyone to be involved so intimately. Giving Dave power over them would make everything weird. And what would happen if they ever stopped that arrangement? What would happen to their relationship with Dave? Kurt had had a rough enough time with him in high school; he didn't need to make it worse for himself.

Finally, after a few minutes of no talk, Kurt turned to Blaine. He helped to nudge him in to a sitting position, and then grabbed his hands and looked into his eyes. "Is this something that you really want?" he asked.

Blaine wanted to avert his eyes. It wasn't that he didn't want to tell Kurt the honest truth, that yes, he did, indeed, want to do this. It was just that it was hard, and he wanted to hide. Finally, in a voice so soft that he himself could barely hear it, he said, "Yes. I do."

Kurt looked at him for a moment, studying him to see if he was telling the truth. After a few beats, he sighed and turned in Dave's direction. "Okay," he said, looking directly at Dave. "We'll try it."


	3. The Talk

It was three days after the most awkward dinner of Dave's life that he heard from Blaine and Kurt again. They had sent him home that night with the decision that they wanted to try it but no idea when. He'd been prepared to wait a few weeks, maybe even months, before he heard from them. But Blaine and Kurt were always full of surprises. When the phone rang, he answered it hurriedly. "Hello?"

"Dave. It's me, Blaine."

"Hi, Blaine."

"Are you free this weekend?"

"Um," Dave said, caught off guard and trying to picture his calendar in his mind. "I think so. Why?"

"We're ready to try."

"This weekend?"

"Yeah. Kurt says if he puts it off any longer than that, he won't go through with it." There was rustling noise in the background and a few muffled sounds that seemed like they could be words. Dave couldn't quite make them out. Then, Blaine's voice, "Kurt says the sooner the better."

Dave smiled. He was glad Kurt was saying anything at all. "Before we do anything," he said, reaching forward to grab a notebook off of the coffee table, "we need to discuss rules, safewords, and consequences. So, we might not actually get to start this weekend. Those discussions can take a long time." He wasn't sure if Blaine heard everything he said since there was more rustling and muffled sounds.

Then, "Are you free on Thursday?"

"Uh," Dave really didn't want to tell him that he had nothing going on ever. "Let me check." He set the phone down for a second and made a show of flipping through the pages of his notebook before picking back up. "Yes. Why?"

"Come over for dinner," Blaine told him. "We can work everything out and then start this weekend."

Dave wasn't sure how he felt about that plan. "Are you sure? That doesn't give the two of you very long to adjust to..." he trailed off, "this." He gestured around with his hand though Blaine couldn't see.

There was loud rustling and then Kurt said, "I want to do it now, Karofsky, before I lose my nerve."

Dave was a little taken aback; no one had called him Karofsky since high school. And, not only that, but Kurt sounded angry. "Okay," he said. "Okay. I just wanted to be sure that's what you wanted."

"It is," came the short reply. Then more rustling.

Blaine's voice came back on the line. "So, you'll be here Thursday night for dinner?"

"Uh, yeah," Dave said. "I guess so."

"What kind of pizza do you like? We're ordering in."

"Pepperoni?"

"Great! See you Thursday!" And Blaine hung up.

Dave sat back on the couch with a sigh. In some ways, he was glad they were just jumping into it. It made the waiting less awful. But, there were a lot of things for him to think about over the next couple of days. He looked warily at his phone for a moment before picking up his pen and beginning to jot down notes.

On Thursday night, Dave knocked on Kurt and Blaine's apartment door. As he stood there, waiting for someone to answer, he thought about how he'd been right there just a week before with very different thoughts running through his mind. This time, instead of a bottle of wine, he had his notebook full of notes held tightly in his fist.

Kurt answered the door a moment later, a large smile plastered on his face. "Dave!" he said happily. "It's so good to see you again!" He let him into the apartment and then threw his arms around him in a big hug.

This was not what Dave was expecting. "Hi," he greeted, looking across the room to Blaine, who was setting out paper plates and napkins.

"Come in!" Kurt said, bouncing a little bit toward the table. "We have the pizza, and we're ready to talk!"

 _I guess we're just jumping in, then,_ Dave thought as he followed Kurt toward the table.

Blaine gave him a smile as he approached. "Hi, Dave," he said. As Kurt headed into the kitchen, Blaine whispered, "He's just nervous. He'll go back to himself in a little while."

Dave nodded, taking a seat at the table. He could see that. And Kurt had every right to be nervous; this was a big deal, and he was sure the poor man had no idea what to expect.

After everyone had a few slices of pizza on their plate and a drink in front of them, Dave found himself being stared at by two sets of expectant eyes. He took a bite of pizza, hoping they would take a cue, but he could tell that did nothing to change their minds. "Were you wanting to start now?" he asked cautiously, looking between the pair.

Kurt nodded vigorously. "If that's okay with you," he hurried to add.

"I guess now's as good a time as any," Dave said, not sure he really felt that way. He flipped open his notebook and glanced at what he'd written. Then, fixing his gaze on Kurt, he asked, "Has Blaine talked to you about anything that we used to do?"

"N-no," Kurt said, swallowing a bite of pizza. "Was he supposed to?"

"No. I just wondered. Many of the things I've written down are things I did with him. I was just curious." He could tell that Kurt was getting more outwardly nervous now, no longer trying to cover it up. He cleared his throat. "First things first. Safewords. I like the traffic light system: green, yellow, and red."

Blaine nodded. "That works well."

"What is the traffic light system? What's it for?"

"Safewords," Dave explained, trying not to feel exasperated that Kurt knew nothing about this, "are for when things get..." he searched for the right words, "to be too much," he finally decided. "If I'm asking you to do something that you think is unreasonable, or you are scared of something, you can use these words if you need us to talk about what's going on or stop completely." He paused, watching as Kurt nodded his understanding. "Yellow means that we need to slow down and talk. Red means we need to stop. Green is where I want you to be, always."

"I only used my safeword once, in the beginning," Blaine explained around a bite. "We jumped into playing, and then I got into big trouble. I used yellow so we could talk about my punishment before I got it."

"Okay," Kurt said, feeling a little bit better. "I think that will work."

"Good," Dave said, taking a few more bites of his pizza. He glanced down at his notes again. "I guess the next thing we should cover is the rules."

Kurt took a deep breath at this. This was one think he wasn't looking forward to about this arrangement, even less than the punishments. He didn't want rules that would make him feel restricted. But, he forced himself to take a few bites of pizza, listening as Dave spoke.

"Really, my rules are pretty simple. There aren't too many of them," Dave said, looking between the two boys. It amazed him that Blaine looked so much more relaxed than Kurt did. Kurt's eyes were full of apprehension, and he'd barely been able to eat a slice of pizza. Blaine, on the other hand, had put down a few slices and was watching him intently, interested.

"The first one and probably biggest one is listening to me. If I tell you to do something, I want you to listen and do as you're told. Telling me 'no' or just not doing it is not going to be allowed."

"That one's hard," Blaine whispered, sounding a little bit far away.

Dave decided to keep a closer eye on Blaine. He was afraid that talking about this might send Blaine into little space since he clearly seemed to need it and hadn't been there for so long.

"What if I don't like what you tell me to do?" Kurt questioned. "Do I still have to do it?"

Dave smiled at that. "You'll probably run into that a lot. When you're little, you're going to want to do whatever sounds fun, and I may not always let you."

"So, what am I supposed to do if I don't agree with what you tell me to do?"

"Tell me you want to talk about it. I'll always talk to you about my directions; you just have to ask." That answer seemed to appease Kurt, so Dave went back to his list, stealing a glance at Blaine. "Honesty. That's the second rule. Lying or omitting the truth won't help anyone in this type of arrangement."

Kurt nodded. That one seemed pretty straight forward.

"Blaine?" Dave prompted. "Do you agree with that rule?"

Blaine nodded, not speaking.

Dave raised an eyebrow at him but said nothing, moving on. "Respect. I expect you to be respectful at all times."

"What does that mean?" Kurt questioned.

"Basically, following the rules is the best way to show respect. But, there are other things, too. Yelling, calling me or Blaine names, and interrupting me when I'm speaking are all types of disrespectful behavior."

Kurt grew very quiet, looking down at the pizza crust on his plate. He wanted to look at Blaine to see how he was taking this, but he didn't really want to look at Dave. How did he tell him he didn't think that seemed fair?

Blaine was feeling...weird. A big part of him didn't want to talk anymore. He just wanted to crawl into Dave's lap and watch a movie until he fell asleep, but he was also worried about Kurt. So, he looked at his husband, taking in his defeated posture and bowed head. A little part of him came back, and he scooted his chair closer, leaning over to whisper, "What's wrong?"

"I don't think that one's fair," Kurt whispered back, not looking up.

"So tell Dave," Blaine prompted.

Kurt shook his head. "I can't." He sounded close to tears.

"Kurt doesn't think that the respect rule is fair," Blaine said, meeting Dave's eyes.

Dave had been watching the two of them closely. He could tell Kurt was upset about something, and he wished he could do something to help him feel more comfortable talking about it. So, he was glad when Blaine did for him. "Why don't you think it's fair, Kurt?" Dave asked gently.

"How am I supposed to express myself if everything is against the rules?" Kurt asked, finally looking up with teary eyes.

Dave looked at Blaine for clarification, but he looked as confused as Dave felt. So, he tried, "Can you explain that?"

"When I get upset, sometimes I yell or call people names. How am I supposed to tell you that I'm upset if I'm not allowed to express myself?" He was starting to get angry, his hands forming into fists on the table.

Instead of answering Kurt, Dave said, "Blaine, what was one of the reasons you called me about doing this?"

"Kurt and I were fighting all the time," Blaine whispered, suddenly self-conscious.

"Was there yelling? Or name calling?"

Blaine nodded.

"Do you see, Kurt?" Dave asked, turning back to him. "The point of these rules, of starting this arrangement in the first place, is to help you learn new ways to handle things if the old ways aren't working."

Kurt opened his mouth to say something, but nothing came out. He closed it again, nodding. He still didn't think it was fair, but at least it made sense now.

"Blaine, you're okay with it, too?" Dave asked, looking at him again.

Blaine nodded. "I get it," he said quietly.

"Good. Only two more," Dave said. "No cursing, and use your manners. Four and five." He looked back and forth between the two men in front of him.

"No cursing," Blaine said. "What's considered a bad word?" They'd had this rule before, but he hadn't cursed much back then. He still didn't, but Kurt could have a mouth like a sailor.

"Nothing stronger than crap," Dave said, decisively. "As a general rule in life, I don't like cursing. It's not just an ageplay thing." He paused, making sure there were no protests. "So, we agree on those five rules?"

Both Kurt and Blaine nodded.

"Alright then. Shall we move on?"

"Punishments," Blaine said quietly, looking at Kurt.

Kurt grabbed his husband's hand, not sure he was prepared for this conversation. "Go ahead," he whispered.

"Punishments are pretty simple. I only use spanking as a last resort or for something major. Otherwise, there could be timeouts, removal of privileges, mouth soaping, or writing lines." Dave checked off the things on his list, wanting to be sure he hadn't forgotten something. He'd done a lot of research when he started with Blaine, and he knew you never wanted to surprise a little with a punishment.

Kurt was surprised; those weren't as bad as he'd imagined. He looked at Blaine who was squeezing his hand tightly. "What do you think?" he asked Blaine, hoping he wasn't underestimating anything.

"Those were the same punishments I had," Blaine told him, sounding far away again. "I didn't like them, but they weren't so bad."

Kurt nodded. "Those are fine, then."

Dave was surprised. That was much easier than he'd imagined. "No questions about the punishments?" he clarified. When he was met with silence and shaken heads, he said, "Good. Do you have any questions about anything else then?"

"Should we call you daddy?" Blaine asked. That had been bothering him since he asked Dave to do this with them.

"That's typically how it's done," Dave replied, picking up another piece of pizza that had grown cold. "But I understand if that makes you uncomfortable. We can work something else out."

Blaine looked at Kurt. "What do you think?" he asked softly.

Kurt shrugged. "It would be weird to call him daddy. But, I can try." _I guess_ , he thought.

"You don't have to," Dave told them. He took a few bites of pizza, thinking. "You could just call me...Dave." He wasn't sure that was a good idea, but he couldn't think of anything else that he would be okay with. He would really prefer some separation from Dave as caregiver and Dave as a friend, but if they weren't okay with it, he could be okay with Dave. Eventually.

"No, I'll try," Kurt said, voice a bit more certain.

"Daddy it is, then," Dave said, smiling. He was trying to make this as comfortable as possible. He couldn't deny that it would be awkward at first, but perhaps if he acted like it was normal, they would, too.

The rest of the evening went quickly. Blaine and Kurt asked a few more questions, but for the most part, they all tried to have a normal evening, the conversation moving on to other topics. A few hours later, Dave announced that he needed to go, and, to his surprise, both men escorted him to the door.

"You'll be back tomorrow night, right?" Kurt asked.

"That's the plan," Dave said.

"Are you spending the night?" This was a question from Blaine. He didn't make eye contact.

"Is that something you'd like me to do?" Dave asked, stepping back into the apartment and closing the door. They hadn't talked about this yet; there was no reason the whole building should be aware of what was going on.

"We want to do this all weekend," Kurt said. "It would save time if you stayed here. But, if you don't want to, that's okay, too."

"It's fine with me," Dave said. "I just wanted to be sure you wouldn't feel that I was intruding on your life too much. This is a big change, and you may need some time away from me to adjust to what I'm asking of you." He searched Kurt's eyes to make sure he understood before reaching out and tipping Blaine's chin up until their eyes met. "Do you understand?"

Blaine nodded. "We'd like you to stay," he said.

"Then I'll stay."

"Thank you," Kurt whispered, wrapping Dave in a hug. He was nervous about tomorrow, but excited at the same time. He hadn't believed Blaine at first, didn't agree that this was a good idea. But the more he heard about it, the more he wanted this to help them relax and enjoy their lives. Maybe it was unconventional, not something that everyone needed, but he'd never wanted to be normal.

"You're welcome," Dave said. He gave Blaine a hug, too, then opened the door and headed down the hallway. "See you tomorrow," he called over his shoulder.


	4. The First Weekend: Friday Night part 1

Friday was a blur for Dave. He went to work like normal that morning, but he was too antsy about that evening to get any work done. After pacing around his office, starting and stopping his project so frequently that he never got more than a word or two typed at a time, he decided to beg off for the afternoon. He told his boss he wasn't feeling well and was able to leave with no problems. It was Friday after all. No one was ever productive on Friday.

Dave's first stop after work was the store. He'd been thinking a lot about what he was going to need to buy for this...adventure, he was calling it. He wasn't sure how far to push things or how long they'd be doing this, but he knew he'd need some supplies, even if they only played tonight. Buying toys and supplies would be expensive, but he had the budget for it. With no boyfriend or children, the only things he ever bought were things for himself, and he was a pretty cheap date.

So, the first things Dave picked up were from the baby aisle. He tossed in baby wipes, some tearless shampoo, a few bath toys, and some bath crayons. A few aisles over he found the childrens' dining sets, plastic plates, bowls, and silverware. He picked up two identical sets and four sippy cups, but his hand hovered over the bottles, unsure.

Blaine was...well, Blaine could be pretty little sometimes. Dave smiled fondly as he thought about it. He wasn't always so little that he wanted a bottle or a pacifier, but sometimes, he would fall that far, especially after a hard day or a big punishment. Deciding that it might be good just to have them on hand, Dave grabbed two bottles and circled back around to grab a few packages of pacifiers before moving on.

He completely skimmed over the diapers. That was one aspect of age play that he wanted nothing to do with. If someone he was looking after needed it, he supposed he would probably be willing to try it. It wasn't something, however, that he chose to introduce into any relationship. He did stop in the toy section though, collecting a few soft stuffies and two large blankets that were super soft to the touch.

Next stop was the arts and crafts, and Dave had to keep himself from going overboard. If there was one thing he knew about Kurt Hummel, it was that the boy loved art. He was sure that that fact would remain the same whether he was in little space or not. So, Dave set about collecting fun yet "age appropriate" art supplies. He really wanted Kurt to be comfortable and a good way to ease him into little space would be to give him something fun to do. So, of course he grabbed crayons and coloring books, some glue sticks and safety scissors, a package of construction paper, some fuzzy sticks, pom poms, craft sticks, and against his better judgment, a small package of glitter.

Next stop, the toys. Dave did allow himself to go a little bit crazy in that section. He knew that one of Blaine's favorite ways to relax was to get a rousing game of...something...going. It didn't really matter what it was. When someone would play a pretend game with him, he was happy. So, Dave picked up cars, blocks, Barbies, and plastic food. He chose some animals, toy soldiers, and Legos. He grabbed some Playdough and Playdough toys and a few simple board games.

Last stop before checkout was the food. He knew Kurt and Blaine would have food, but he wanted a few childish choices to help move them into little space. While they wouldn't be very healthy choices, he could add in a few veggies or fruits to aid with nutrition. So, he loaded up his cart with chicken nuggets, french fries, and corn dogs, a loaf of bread and some cheese slices for sandwiches, a few cans of tomato soup with letters, and a package of spaghetti and sauce. Last, he threw in a few fruits and veggies. Satisfied that his nearly overflowing cart would get them through the weekend, he headed toward the check out counter.

On his way, he noticed a display of clear plastic bins and picked up two on an impulse. It would be good to store their things in a way that would be easy to pull out as well as hide when they didn't want any one to see it.

Dave grimaced when the cashier told him his final total. He knew it wouldn't be a cheap trip, but he was hoping that it would be cheaper than it was. It took him several minutes to load everything into his car, but then he was on his way to his apartment. He still needed to pack an overnight bag for himself, and he wanted to open some of the toys before he headed over Kurt and Blaine's.

His stop at home lasted about an hour. Dave felt tired already by the time he had everything sitting next to the door. He almost felt like he was moving, he had so much stuff. But, it didn't matter. It felt good to be able to take care of someone again. He hadn't realized how much he'd missed it until he started planning to help help Kurt and Blaine. He smiled to himself as he loaded the car again. Though Blaine would have no way of knowing this because they'd never talked about it, age play did as much for Dave as it did for the little. He felt so much better when he was looking after someone, helping them relax and just be the person they needed to be.

After a second, quick check around the apartment, Dave climbed into the car and turned down his street, headed for Kurt and Blaine's. He was shocked when he glanced at the clock, noticing it was only 4pm. Quickly, he dialed Blaine's number, hoping they would be home.

"Hey," greeted Blaine's familiar voice. There was some loud wooshing in the background, but Dave could hear him just fine.

"Hey," he replied, a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. "Are you and Kurt at home? I'm on my way over."

"Kurt should be home. I'm not there yet, but I will be in about five minutes."

"Great! I'm bringing over quite a bit of stuff, and I could use some help unloading my car. The more hands unpacking, the better. We probably don't want anyone to see what we're bringing up."

Blaine chuckled. "We can help. How long 'til you get here?"

"I just left. 15 maybe?"

"Sounds good. Just text when you get here, and we'll come down and help you. Thanks, Dave."

"No problem. See you soon." And with that, he hung up. Already he felt better about tonight. He had been pretty nervous, truth be told. He knew that Blaine would be fine, easing into his little space quickly, he was sure. It was Kurt he was nervous about. But, hearing Blaine's voice on the other end of the line was soothing for some reason. He had to remember that Blaine could help Kurt into his little space, too. Dave didn't have to do this by himself.

He paid very little attention on his drive, his mind going over everything he wanted to do tonight. He was hoping that it would all go off without a hitch, but he wasn't naive. He remembered how things had gone with Blaine at first. He had a lot of meltdowns as he pushed at the boundaries and learned about himself in his little space. He had no doubt Kurt would go through this process this weekend as well. He just hoped that with Blaine there, Kurt might find it less upsetting than being all by himself.

When Dave got to Kurt and Blaine's apartment, he shot off a quick text to Blaine. "Here. Come down and help, please." He got out and began shuffling through things, trying to combine as many bags as he could and putting anything into the tubs that he could.

A few minutes later, Kurt and Blaine appeared at the trunk of his car. "Hey," they both greeted.

"Hi, boys," he said, giving them smiles. "How are you feeling?"

"Nervous," Kurt mumbled, looking at the ground.

Blaine was looking into the back of Dave's car with wide eyes. "Excited now!" he said, bouncing on his toes just a bit. "You brought toys."

"Yep! We've gotta get this stuff upstairs. Kurt, will you carry these bags and hold the elevator for us, please?" he asked the skinny boy.

"Uh, sure."

"Thank you." Dave handed the bags over, taking a moment to give Kurt a gentle pat on the shoulder. "Try to relax," he said quietly. "Everything is going to be fine. There's no reason to be scared."

"Not. Scared." With that, Kurt walked back toward the apartment building, arms full of bags.

"I can get this one," Blaine said, indicating the tub full of toys.

"Thank you. I'll be there in just a second. I need to lock the car and grab my overnight bag."

The three of them met again in the elevator, Blaine straining under the weight of the tub he'd grabbed.

"Regretting your decision?" Dave teased as he stepped into the elevator and set his tub down.

Kurt pressed the button for their floor, glancing at what Blaine had. "You brought a lot of stuff," he concluded. "What's it all for?" He had caught sight of some baby things that were making him even more uncomfortable with this decision than he was already feeling.

"They're for you," Dave explained as the elevator dinged and the doors slid open. He followed the two boys down the hallway to their door. "Just put everything in the living room. I'll put it away in a moment," he instructed them.

"There's food in here," Kurt said, peeking into one of his bags.

"I know. That's for this weekend, too," Dave explained. "I tried to bring everything I thought we would need. I hope I didn't forget anything."

"Looks like you're moving in," Kurt groused as he surveyed the pile of stuff that was taking over the coffee table and couch. He didn't like messes, and this was not how he had chosen to decorate his living room.

Dave chose to ignore him. Instead, he stepped around the two boys to dig through the tub of toys. He produced the pile of coloring books and two boxes of crayons. "Come with me," he told the two of them, heading toward the dining table. He spread the books out on the table and handed each of them a box of crayons. "I'd like the two of you to color quietly while I put things away and make dinner. I want you to try to relax into your little space. I will be close by if you need something. Okay?" He looked at each boy in turn, waiting until he got a nod of confirmation. "Good boys," he said before stepping away.

Kurt and Blaine sat down at the table, getting settled. Blaine immediately grabbed the super hero coloring book, flipping until he found a cool picture of Spiderman. "Yeah!" he said excitedly, tearing into his box of crayons.

Kurt was being a bit more choosy. He looked at the options before him. There was a Cars coloring book, one with puppies and kitties, and a Disney book. Tentatively, he picked up the Disney one, flipping each page gently, looking for one he wanted. He was trying to relax, and he had to admit that being told to color helped. He liked coloring, and it was a relief not to have to wonder what he should be doing. Dave had told him exactly what to do, and all they were supposed to do was listen. After looking at each of the pictures in the book, he finally settled on one of Cinderella in the garden, little sparkles of magic all around her as her rags were transformed into a ball gown. He gingerly opened his box of crayons and pulled out a blue one, lightly sliding it over the page.

"Kur'! Kur'!" Blaine called to him excitedly. "Like my pi'chure?" he asked, pointing at Spiderman.

"It looks nice, Blaine," he complimented with a smile. Was Blaine already little? He was talking weird.

"'t's SPIDERMAN!" he hollered, clapping his hands gleefully. Then, he grabbed a different crayon and set to work coloring the scene behind the comic book character.

Dave came into the dining room with all the bags of food. "Blaine, no yelling please," he said reprimanded gently. "I'm glad you're excited though."

"Sorry, Daddy," Blaine stage whispered, smiling at the man. "See my 'piderman?"

"I see it. It's beautiful!" Dave smiled and ruffled Blaine's curls. "Did you find something to color, Kurt?" he asked softly.

Kurt nodded. He wasn't little. Should he be little already? He started to panic. How would he know when he was little anyway?"

Dave could see the fear in his eyes and quickly knelt down beside his chair, putting a gentle hand on his knee. "Hey. Take a deep breath. That's it. Good boy," he praised as Kurt did as he was told. "It's okay that you aren't little yet. It's going to take a little while for you. You aren't used to it; Blaine's done it before. Just focus on coloring and listening when I tell you to do something. You'll get there, okay?"

Kurt nodded slowly, picking the blue crayon back up.

"Good boy," Dave told him, standing. "Are you thirsty?" he asked.

Kurt nodded again.

"Alright. I'll bring you something." He turned back toward the kitchen, bags still in his fist. He would have to work with Kurt on giving verbal answers when he asked a question, but he would wait until the boy was feeling more comfortable.

A few minutes later, Dave returned to the table with two sippy cups full of water. "Here you go, boys," he said, setting the cups on the table.

"Fank you!" Blaine said, grabbing his and drinking deeply.

"Thanks," Kurt mumbled, his eyes never leaving his picture.

"You're welcome."

Dave went back to the living room to continue organizing the things he'd brought with him, giving the two boys some space. He was hoping that Blaine would talk to Kurt some more. So far, they'd been pretty quiet which was unusual for Blaine. He was constantly talking and bouncing around, always full of energy no matter what they were doing. Dave was hoping that some of that energy would be contagious and draw Kurt out of his bubble. He didn't have to wait long for Blaine to start talking.

"Kur'!" he called again, poking at the boy. "Kur'!"

"What?" Kurt sounded agitated. He was trying to color!

"Wanna turn on moosic?" When Kurt was silent, Blaine whined, "Wanna dance!"

"We're 'posed to be coloring," Kurt replied.

Dave was surprised. Was Kurt starting to slip?

"Daddy'll yet us! I yike dancin'!" Kurt was silent again, so Blaine yelled, "Daaaaaaaaaaddy!"

"Blaine, no yelling," Dave reminded again, coming into the room. "What do you need?"

"Sorry," Blaine mumbled, feeling momentarily chastised. Then, he began bouncing in his seat, dropping his crayon on top of his unfinished picture. "Wanna listen to moosic!"

"Is that what Kurt wants?" Dave asked, looking at the other little boy.

Kurt was focused on his book again, not paying Dave any attention.

"Kurt?" he asked. "Do you want to listen to music, too?"

Kurt frowned, thinking. "Have to put my colorin' away?" he asked.

Dave was happy. It appeared that Kurt was giving in to his little space. "No. You can keep coloring if you want to."

Kurt nodded then. "Music's fine."

"Blaine, you have to clean up your crayons and coloring book then," Dave told him. "You do that while I get the music ready. What do you want to listen to?"

"Broadway!" Blaine exclaimed, slapping his coloring book closed and trying to shove his crayons back into the box. He had them going every which way, and the box was quickly getting torn up.

"Blaine, slow down," Dave chided, grabbing the little's hands to still them. "You have to put the crayons away right so the box doesn't get torn up." He helped Blaine put the crayons away, guiding his hands so they were all straight in the container. Once all the crayons were in the box, Blaine jumped up from his chair and ran to the living room where Dave had yet to organize the toys. "Play?" he asked, looking around at all the toys.

"What do you want to play with, monkey?" Dave asked, coming out to the living room.

"Um," Blaine considered his options. "These, and these! Oooh! And these!" He ran about the room, tapping on the cars, Legos, and toy soldiers. "And also these!" he exclaimed, pointing to the plastic animals.

"Pick two," Dave told him chuckling. If he let Blaine have his way, there would be a huge mess all over the living room in just a few minutes.

"But-" Blaine whined.

"But nothing or you can lay down for a nap. Whiny boys are sleepy."

Blaine pouted but picked out the Legos and animals. "'m gonna builda zoo!" he told Dave. "Build wif me?"

Dave smiled at him but shook his head. "I can't right now," he explained. "I have to finish putting things away and then make dinner."

"Kay," Blaine said, sounding sad.

"But, maybe if you ask Kurt nicely, he will build a zoo with you." 

Blaine perked up at that. He could play with Kurt! And right now, he missed Kurt and kinda wanted a hug. So, after he'd dumped all the Legos and animals out in the middle of the floor, he padded over to Kurt who was still coloring. "Kur'?" he asked, poking his arm.

"Hmm?"

"Come build wif me?"

"Colorin'," Kurt told him. He didn't really feel like doing anything else. His tummy was hurting him, and he thought he might get sick. He really didn't wanna move right now.

"You colored lots already!" Blaine was exasperated. No one would play with him, and he just wanted to have fun. He heard Dave click the music on in the living room, so he tried again. "Daddy turneded on the moosic now! Come build!" He pulled on Kurt's arm just a little.

"No, Blaine! Go 'way! Colorin'!"

"But, Kuuuuuuuuur'!" He pulled on his arm again, this time causing Kurt's crayon to slip from where he was coloring the magic sparkles gold. There was now a large golden streak across Kurt's paper.

"You ruin it!" Kurt cried, turning an angry face to his husband. "You ruin my picture!" His eyes welled up. He'd worked so hard on it. _This is nothing to cry about_ , he told himself, but the tears fell anyway. He felt silly, but he couldn't seem to stop. He hid his face in his arms, crying into the table.

Blaine felt tears prickling the back of his eyes when Kurt screeched at him, but watching Kurt cry was what really broke him. He tried to peek over Kurt's shoulder to see if he could fix his mistake, but the tears made it to hard to see, so he just sank down to his knees, putting his head in Kurt's lap and sobbed.

Dave came running as soon as he heard Kurt shout, but he was too late. Both of the boys were in tears when he got to the table, and he watched them for a moment, feeling helpless. Things were not off to a good start, apparently, and he was wondering if he had chosen to take on way too much at once. The sight of both of his little boys crying was breaking his heart.


	5. The First Weekend: Friday Night part 2

Dave shook himself. He had a job to do. Quickly, he crossed to the two distraught boys, squatting next to them and putting a hand on each of their backs. "Hey. What happened?" he asked softly, gently rubbing circles with his thumbs.

Blaine leaned away from Kurt, pressing himself against Dave and continuing to cry. "K-K-Kur's m-m-mad a-at meeeee!" he wailed. He didn't like that Kurt was mad at him. He just wanted him to be happy so they could sing and build a zoo.

"I see," Dave crooned gently. "Kurt?" he asked, turning toward the other boy.

Kurt, unlike Blaine, did not want any comfort from Dave. He wanted to stop crying because this was NOT A BIG DEAL! He knew that. It was just a dumb coloring book page. He also didn't want anyone else to see him cry, and his tummy still hurt. So, he moved away from Dave's touch, curling up into his chair and crying into his arms on the table.

Dave sighed. This was going to be a long weekend, especially if the boys were already upset. Deciding that it would be a better idea to get Blaine settled before tackling Kurt, he scooped the boy up in his arms and toted him to the living room, situating them near the pile of toys that Blaine had dumped onto the floor. He paused the music and rocked them gently, whispering to him until Blaine had stopped crying. Then, "Feel better?" he asked.

Blaine shook his head. "Kur's mad at me," he whispered.

"Kurt's upset right now. But, he'll be okay. He's not mad."

"I ruin his colorin', though."

"It was an accident."

"But I maked Kur' sad!"

Dave sighed. He wasn't getting anywhere with this. "Kurt will be okay. Right now, I'm worried about you." He smoothed some hair out of Blaine's face. "Are you okay?"

Blaine nodded. "Jus' wanna play wif Kur'."

"I know," Dave assured, giving him a squeeze. "Can you be a big boy and play with your toys while I talk to Kurt? I'm sure he'll come play with you in a minute."

Blaine nodded, picking up a plastic lion from the floor and rotating it in his hands a bit. "I make cage for the wions?"

"That's a wonderful idea," Dave said, giving him another squeeze before scooting the curly-haired boy off of his lap. "I'll be right back." He stood and rested his hand on Blaine's head for a just a moment before turning toward the table and his other little. "Hey," he said, sliding into the chair that Blaine had been coloring in. "Are you okay?"

Kurt's crying had subsided, and he was sniffling into his arms, afraid to look at his picture. He didn't understand why that line had made him cry, but he knew he didn't want to do it again. Silently, he nodded, not looking up from his arms.

"Did something happen to your coloring?" Dave asked gently. He stretched out a hand to put on Kurt's back, but the boy pulled away instinctively, so he decided against it.

Kurt said nothing. Instead, he pushed the coloring book away from himself as if he didn't want it.

Dave picked it up and examined the line. It didn't cut through any other stars or run into Cinderella. In fact, the line seemed pretty harmless to him. But, he knew he couldn't tell Kurt that. So, instead, he asked, "Would you like me to fix you paper?"

That got Kurt's attention. He lifted his head, his eyes wide. "You c'n do that?" he asked, bewildered.

"Sure. Let me get a pair of scissors." Dave padded back into the living room, giving Blaine a big smile as he went. Sitting back down at the table, he pulled the coloring book toward him and carefully cut out the page. He glanced at the back, happy to see that there was a maze on it. Kurt would never be okay with him cutting up a princess picture. Skillfully, Dave cut around the outside of the picture, careful to keep all of the magic sparkles and none of Blaine's accidental line. When he was done, he handed the picture to Kurt who took it with wide eyes. "Does that look okay?" he asked gently. He wasn't sure what he was going to do if Kurt said no. It wasn't like he could put the page back together again.

"Thank you," Kurt breathed. He wanted to hug Dave, but he wasn't sure he could, so he stayed still, looking at his new page. He hoped that he would be allowed to color some more.

"You're welcome," Dave replied, delighted. "Do you think you'd like to play with Blaine for a little while? He wants to build a zoo."

"Wanna color," Kurt whined, reaching for his crayon.

"You could color later," Dave offered. He didn't want to force Kurt to play with Blaine, but he was afraid Blaine might have another meltdown if Kurt didn't agree to play with him.

Kurt chewed on his lower lip, thinking. He didn't really want to play. He was feeling a little bit icky and confused, but one quick glance over his shoulder at Blaine on the floor in the living room, and he decided to join him. "I color later?" he asked, gesturing toward the picture.

"We'll get the crayons out again later," Dave promised. "Can you help me clean up your crayons please?"

After quickly loading the crayons into their box, Kurt slid out of his chair, running to the living room and plopping down on the floor beside Blaine. "You wan' me to play wif you?" Kurt asked.

Blaine looked at him from beneath his lashes. "You not mad at me?" he clarified.

Instead of answering, Kurt pulled his husband into a hug. "'m not mad," he promised.

Blaine scooted closer, wrapping his arms around Kurt and snuggling into him a bit. "You buiwd wif me?" he asked.

"You buildin' a zoo?"

"Yeah!" Blaine said excitedly, sitting up. "I makeded the lion cage!" He pointed to the block circle holding in three lions.

"Good job," Kurt told him. "We should build a 'closure for the zebras next. Far 'way from the lions so they don't get eated."

Dave smiled. He was happy to see his boys getting along again. He knew the peace probably wouldn't last. With two little boys as opinionated as Kurt and Blaine, there were bound to be arguments. For now though, they were playing together which meant he could get some more work done. Quickly, he finished putting away the pile of things from the living room. The toys that weren't currently being played with were stowed away in a tote that fit perfectly at the back of one of their hall closets, and all the food he'd purchased was put away in the cabinets and freezer. He took a few moments to check his phone and get a glass of water for himself. Then, grabbing the boys' cups off of the table, he ventured into the living room where he found several colorful Lego "enclosures" spread out all over the floor. "Hi, boys," he greeted warmly, taking a seat on the floor near where they were playing.

Blaine looked up from where he was building another Lego enclosure. "Hi, Daddy!" he said, a big smile on his face. "Yook at da zoo!"

"I see. It's a very nice zoo."

"See what Kur' makeded?" Blaine pointed to a circle of Legos nearby. "Is short acuz are tiny turtles," he explained seriously.

"That looks very nice, Kurt," Dave complimented.

Kurt blushed. It was obvious he was still trying to be at least a little brown up because the circle of Legos was perfect, each corner touching the one next to it. "Thanks," he mumbled to the floor, fiddling with a few blocks in his lap.

"Here," Dave offered the boys their sippy cups. "You guys need to drink up. I don't want you to feel icky because you're thirsty."

Blaine grabbed his and slurped deeply, obviously parched.

Kurt eyed his with disdain. "No thirsty," he said.

"You may not feel thirsty, but you probably still need water. Have some for me anyway, please," Dave requested.

With a scowl plastered on his face, Kurt grabbed the cup from Dave and took a quick swig.

"More, please," Dave said, paitently.

"No."

"Kurt. I won't argue with you. Take a few more drinks, please."

Kurt crossed his arms over his chest and glared hard. "I. Said. No!" he screeched.

"Kurt," Dave said quietly, his voice even. "I won't ask again. Take a few more drinks, or there will be consequences." He knew very well that Kurt was going to do it again; he was testing boundaries.

"No!"

Blaine had been watching the exchange with wide eyes. He remembered the first time with Daddy. He didn't need to test the boundaries. He knew that Daddy's punishments were no fun, so he implored Kurt, "Jus' drink, Kur'! Is yummy!" He took another big gulp from his cup to prove his point.

But Dave was already standing, hoisting Kurt up by his arm. "Blaine, play, please. Kurt and I have something to do." Keeping a firm grip on Kurt's arm, he led the little boy out of the living room and into the kitchen. When they were far enough away he was sure Blaine wasn't listening, he turned to Kurt who was struggling to get away. "Listen," he said. "I'm going to give you a choice. You can take a few more drinks of your water, or you can go to time out first. You and I both know that taking a drink isn't a big deal, but if you don't want to listen, you can expect that I will punish you."

"Don't want a drink," Kurt groused, crossing his arms as best he could with Dave's large hand firmly around his bicep.

"I didn't ask what you wanted," Dave reminded him nicely. "You have until the count of three to make your choice. If the cup isn't in your mouth, I'm going to assume that you want time out. One."

No movement.

"Two."

Kurt flinched, but still didn't bring the cup to his mouth.

"Three." When Kurt still made no move to take a drink, Dave walked him over to a corner in the dining room that he had made sure was empty for just such an occasion. He positioned the pouting boy with his nose in the corner. "You have five minutes," he told him. "After the five minutes, if you're ready to drink some water, you can come out. If not, we'll wait another five minutes and try again." He usually did more than five minutes of time out, preferring to use one minute for every year of their age. However, he knew that five minutes would seem like a long time to someone just staring at the wall. So he figured that the time out would do the trick.

The first five minutes did not. "Are you ready to come out and have some water?" he asked when the time was up.

"Still not thirsty."

After another five minutes, he asked, "Kurt?"

"No!" Kurt stomped his foot.

Dave sighed, setting the timer on his phone again. "I guess I'll have to add another five minutes."

"Noooooo, Kurt whined, turning around to look at Dave with tears on his cheeks. "No moooooore."

"Are you going to take a few drinks then?"

"Nooooooo..." Kurt stomped again.

"Then five more minutes."

At that pronouncement, Kurt dropped to the floor, his tears increasing.

At that moment, Blaine peeked around the corner. "Daddy?" he asked, glancing cautiously at Kurt on the floor. "Kur' okay?"

"Kurt's fine, Blaine," Daddy said on his way toward Kurt. "Go play for a few more minutes. We'll be back out soon."

"But..." Blaine bit at his lower lip, looking unsure. "He's sad."

"He'll be fine. He's going to talk with Daddy and then we'll come back out to play."

"Pwomise?" he asked, his dark eyes looking directly into Daddy's.

Dave remembered that Blaine took promises very seriously. They were something that regularly helped him to stay calm when he was upset. "Promise," Daddy assured. "We'll be back out soon."

"Kay." Blaine nodded once before turning back toward the living room.

Dave continued to Kurt's side, pulling the sad, crumpled boy into his lap. He rocked back and forth for a few minutes, rubbing his back. When the tears seemed to subside a bit, he asked quietly, "Can you tell me what's wrong?"

"I don't like being little," Kurt whispered.

"Can you sit up a little?" Dave asked. "I can't hear you."

Kurt leaned away from Dave just enough to whisper a little louder, "I don't like being little."

"I see," Dave replied, thinking. Kurt was curled up on his lap, leaning against him, soaking up the snuggles. He wasn't trying to move away; something didn't add up. "Why don't you like being little?"

"'s hard."

"Mmhmm. Anything else?"

Kurt shook his head, snuggling in a bit closer to Dave's chest.

Dave began to rock again, thinking. Then he said, "What's hard about being little?"

"Uuugh," Kurt mumbled, rubbing his face against Dave's shirt "Don' wanna talk."

"We have to though," Dave said gently. "I don't want you to feel forced into anything. If you don't want to be little any more, you don't have to be. But, I want to know how you feel before you decide."

Kurt moved away from Dave's chest then, sitting up but not getting off of his lap. He twisted his hands together in his lap, not answering, until Dave put one large, warm hand over the top of his, stilling them. "It's embarrassing..." Kurt muttered.

Suddenly, Dave understood. "It's embarrassing?"

"Uhhuh." Kurt nodded sadly.

"Who is making you embarrassed?"

Kurt shrugged.

Dave took the boy's chin in his hand, turning his head so he could meet his eyes. "Kurt, I want you to understand that no one is judging you. No one is going to think any differently about you if you want to be little."

"But it makes me feel silly!" Kurt sputtered, scooting off of Dave's lap then. It was clear he was tottering on the edge between head spaces.

"Here's what I think happened," Dave said, careful to keep his voice low. He didn't want to embarrass Kurt further by drawing Blaine's attention to them. "I think that you were happy being little when you were with Blaine. But then you decided to see how serious I was about you drinking water, and then you got into trouble. Being in trouble wasn't fun, and you got upset with me and yourself. Is that right?'

Kurt nodded slowly. "I don't like time out."

"You're not supposed to like it," Dave reminded him. "It's a punishment. But, if you don't like time out, maybe you'll remember to obey me when I tell you something."

Kurt nodded again. "'m sorry."

"You're forgiven. Here." He handed Kurt the sippy cup he'd snagged from the table on his way over. "Take three big drinks, please," he instructed. When Kurt did as he was told, Dave gave him a big smile. "That's my good boy," he praised, happy to see the small smile that crept over Kurt's face. "Do you want to go and play with Blaine some more? I need to make us some dinner."

Kurt nodded, rising from his spot on the floor. Before he got to the living room, however, he turned, looking back at Dave. "Is okay that 'm little?" he clarified.

"Of course!" Dave replied, rising to pull Kurt into a tight hug. "It's perfectly fine for you to be as big or little as you feel."

Kurt flashed him a smile then turned back to the living room.

Dave heard an excited, "Kur'!" from Blaine as he headed toward the kitchen to start dinner. Tonight seemed like a good chicken-nuggets-with-mac-n-cheese kind of night.


	6. The First Weekend: Friday Night part 3

Dave pulled the tray of chicken nuggets from the oven, setting it down beside the pot of mac 'n' cheese on the stove top. He swiped his hand across his brow. Even though dinner hadn't been difficult to make, Dave was already feeling exhausted. Taking care of littles was hard. He'd forgotten that.

It wasn't that Kurt and Blaine were being naughty. Quite the opposite actually. They were getting along really well, building a zoo and singing loudly to Broadway show tunes. Dave had gone in a few times to check on them and had found them giggling and laughing together. No, the hard part was that Dave was a paranoid Daddy. Any little sound could send him flying to the living room, sure that something was wrong. He blamed it on not having done the Daddy-ing thing for a while. He was going to have to get better about it.

Grabbing the freshly washed plastic plates from the dish rack by the sink, Dave double checked that everything was prepped. They already had cups, food was ready, and their plates were clean. He was ready. He made his way to the living room. "Dinner time, boys," he announced, smiling at the numerous circles full of animals on the floor. "Ready to eat?"

"Yay!" Blaine said, hopping up from the floor and rushing him. "Foo'! 'm hungwy, Daddy!"

"That's good. Can you clean up your toys please?"

"Nooooo," Blaine whined, wrapping himself around Dave's leg and sitting on his foot. "Don' wanna cwean up!"

"We have to pick up our toys, Blaine," Dave explained calmly. "We don't want anyone to trip on them or break them, do we?"

"But 'm p'ayin'!" Blaine explained. "Kur'! Tell Daddy no cwean up toys."

Kurt, who had been putting the finishing touches on another new circle glanced up. "We pick up now?" he asked.

"Please," Dave replied. "Dinner is ready."

"'kay," Kurt agreed. Slowly, he began to scoop up the blocks and put them back into the bucket nearby.

This made Blaine very angry. "Kur'! No!" he screeched, untangling himself from around Dave and rushing across the room. He swiftly kicked over the bucket of Legos before Kurt could deposit his handful.

Kurt looked at Dave with wide eyes. Blaine had been naughty. Was Dav—Daddy going to think that he'd been naughty, too?

"Blaine Anderson," Dave said, giving the boy his best Daddy Look. "You need to pick up all those Legos you just spilled right now, please." He focused on keeping his voice calm.

"Nooooo," Blaine begged. "Wanna p'ay after!"

"I'm sorry," Dave said again, walking across the room to squat by the mess of Legos on the floor. "Help me pick these up now." Turning to Kurt, he said gently, "Thank you for trying to follow directions. Please pick up the animals and put them away and then go sit at the table. I'll bring you some food in a few minutes."

Kurt nodded. "'kay." He began to collect the animals from their little Lego pens.

Blaine was having none of it. "No, Kur'!" he yelled, running across the room and sweeping his feet through the enclosures, sending Legos and animals flying in all directions.

Dave cleared his throat. "Blaine Devon Anderson. I expect you to get your naughty little bottom over here right this instant." He pointed to the floor directly in front of him. "Kurt," he said, gentling his tone, "just go sit at the table for me. I'll be there in just a few minutes."

"Blaine in trouble?" Kurt asked softly, not sure how he felt about it.

"Blaine's in trouble, yes," Dave agreed, grabbing the little boy by his wrist when Blaine came over. "But, don't worry. He'll be fine. Just worry about following directions, please." He smiled at Kurt encouragingly.

Kurt nodded and left for the dining room, sliding into a chair with its back to the living room so he didn't have to hear Daddy get mad at Blaine.

Taking a deep breath, Dave led Blaine to the couch and sat down, holding Blaine between his knees. "What is the matter?" he asked. "You're not listening very well right now."

Blaine was still mad. "I don' wanna cwean up!" he insisted, stomping. "Wanna p'ay."

"Well, that's not a choice right now," Dave replied. "I'm sorry."

"No!"

"You've already earned yourself a time out," Dave said sternly. "If you keep shouting at me, I'll wash your mouth out with soap and then put you in time out."

Blaine scowled but didn't say anything. Soap was icky.

"Much better," Dave praised. "Would you like to tell me why you're so upset about cleaning up your toys?"

Shaking his head, Blaine glared at Daddy.

"Okay. You can go to time out and then we'll talk," Daddy decided. Standing, he kept a firm grip on Blaine's wrist and marched him to the dining room, placing him in the corner that Kurt had occupied not long before. "Five minutes," he said. "Then we'll see if you feel like talking."

Blaine didn't say anything, just stomped his foot and crossed his arms.

Dave turned away from Blaine and held out a hand to Kurt. "Wanna come pick out what dino chicken nuggets you want?" he asked, smiling.

Kurt nodded shyly, sliding off his chair and coming around to stand by Dave. "Dino nuggets for dinner?" he asked.

"Yep! With mac 'n' cheese," Dave told him. "Are you hungry?"

"Uh huh."

"Let's get your plate then." Dave grabbed Kurt's hand, and together, they walked to the stove. "Don't touch," Dave warned. "It's really hot. I'll get your food for you. Can you tell me which dinos you want?"

Quietly, Kurt pointed to five different nuggets, each one a different shape. There was a t-rex, a pterodactyl, a brachiosaurus, a triceratops, and a stegosaurus. After Dave gave him a scoop of mac 'n' cheese, Kurt returned to the table with his food.

"Do you want me to cut up your nuggets?" Dave asked.

Kurt shook his head.

"Would you like milk or water with your dinner?"

Kurt shrugged.

"I'd like a verbal answer, please," Dave said patiently.

"Water," Kurt whispered. He kept glancing at Blaine in time out. It was making him uncomfortable to know that Blaine was in trouble.

"Good boy," Dave praised, walking into the living room to retrieve the boy's sippy cups. When he returned, he glanced at the clock and realized Blaine's time was up. "Blaine?" he said gently, walking toward the boy. "Are you ready to come out of time out?"

As he'd been standing in the corner, Blaine had begun to feel more and more sorry for himself. He didn't want to be in time out. It wasn't fair that Daddy was making him pick up the toys he wanted to play with. He didn't want to be in trouble. So, when Daddy finally called to him, he turned around and flung himself into Daddy's arms, tears forming in his eyes. "Sorry, sorry, sorry," he mumbled into his shirt.

Dave hugged him back tightly, setting the two sippy cups down on the table. "You're okay," he soothed, rubbing Blaine's back. "You'll be okay."

"I c'ean up now," Blaine sniffled, turning to go back to the living room.

"After dinner," Dave said, grabbing his arm. "Before we do the fun thing I had planned, you'll pick up all the Legos and the animals. Right now, though, it's time for food."

Blaine nodded, following Dave to the stove. He pointed out the chicken nuggets he wanted and sat down with his chicken and mac 'n' cheese beside Kurt, who was nearly finished. "Sorry," he mumbled to Kurt.

"I is not mad, my Blainers," Kurt said softly, reaching out a hand to pat at Blaine's. "Is okay."

"Do you want me to cut up your nuggets for you, Blaine?" Dave asked, coming to the table with his own plate of food.

Blaine shook his head. "Ketchup?" he asked hopefully.

"Of course," Dave replied, standing up and going back to the fridge. "I'm sorry, Kurt. I forgot to see if you wanted any dipping sauce."

"Is okay," Kurt assured him quietly.

When Dave returned with the ketchup, he also had the sippy cups in his hand. He sent them down in front of the boys before squirting a puddle of ketchup onto Blaine's plate. "There you go," he pronounced. "Do you need anything else?"

Neither boy answered him, too busy eating. Blaine was making a game out of dunking his nuggets in the ketchup. He giggled as he put the dino feet in, squishing them all around. "Takin' a baf," he sang, grinning at the mess he was making.

"I know your food is shaped like a dinosaur," Dave began, "but please remember to eat it, too. Don't just play with it."

Blaine gave him a look. "But, they's takin' a ketchup baf!"

"Well, they need to take a ride into your tummy," Dave replied, tickling him a little. "I have a fun surprise planned for after dinner, but you need to eat all your food so we can clean up your toys."

Kurt lifted his head at that. "Su'prise?"

Dave nodded. "Mhm."

"Yay! S'pize!" Blaine yelled loudly, mashing one of his nuggets into his mouth. "Wha' iv i'?" he asked with his mouth full.

"I'm not going to tell you what it is, or it wouldn't be a surprise," Dave chuckled. "And don't talk with your mouthful, please."

"Forry," Blaine said before he swallowed. "Sowwy."

"It's okay, monkey boy. Just try to remember. Have you tried your mac 'n' cheese yet?" he asked, trying to encourage Blaine to eat. He vaguely remembered that Blaine had trouble eating. It wasn't that he didn't like the food or wasn't hungry. He just didn't eat much. He had to be talked into it and coached through it.

It didn't seem like Kurt had the same problem. While his portions were smaller than Blaine's, he seemed to eat what was in front of him without complaint. Dave felt a bit of relief at that. Maybe he wouldn't have to fight two littles about food.

Knowing there was a surprise waiting for him, Blaine wolfed down his food at lightening speed, shoving as much into his mouth at once as he could.

"Slow down," Dave said, laying a hand on his arm. "Chew your food before you swallow it. I don't want you to choke."

Despite the warning, Blaine continued to snarf down his food when he thought Dave wasn't looking at him. He was desperate to get to the surprise, and he bounced in his seat when his last bite was swallowed. "Ah done, Daddy!" he announced happily. "S'pize?" he asked.

"Go put your plate in the sink and then clean up the toys in the living room while Kurt and I finish. Then, we'll have the surprise." Dave couldn't keep the smile off of his face as the little boy flew into action, sprinting around the room to do as he was told. Surprises were a goo motivator. Daddy would have to keep that in mind. "All done, Kurt?" he asked a few moments later as he scooped his last bite into his mouth.

"Uh huh," Kurt replied, smiling. He'd been done for a while, but he hadn't wanted to say anything to Daddy.

"Did you like it?" Daddy asked. He could tell that Kurt still felt a little bit nervous about everything, and he wanted to put his mind at ease.

"Was yummy," Kurt agreed.

Dave gave him a smile. "Can you put your plate in the sink, please?" he asked. "Then, we can go see about the surprise in the living room."

Kurt nodded, rising to do as he was told just as Blaine came rushing back into the dining room. "Ah done!" he announced proudly.

"Good boy," Daddy praised, happy that he'd listened without a fight. "Go sit on the couch. Kurt and I will be there in a minute."

"Yay!" Blaine yelled, running back into the living room and diving onto the couch. He sat up and bounced excitedly, waiting for Daddy to come back.

As Kurt settled in next to Blaine, Dave rounded the couch. He'd tucked a bag behind the containing two stuffed animals, and he handed one to each of the boys.

Blaine looked his over carefully. It was a small stuffed lion with a fuzzy mane, two tiny ears, and a soft brown nose against tan fur and dark black eyes. A smile came across his face, and he leaped off the couch, squeezing Daddy tightly. "Fank you," he said. "I yuv my s'pize!"

"I'm glad you like it," Daddy said, kissing the boy on top of the head. He hadn't intended to do that, but the action came naturally. "That wasn't the whole surprise, though," he said gently.

"Is not?" Blaine cried, stepping back. "More?"

"There's more," Dave agreed. "Just wait a second. Kurt," he asked, turning to the boy who was still on the couch, "do you like yours?"

Kurt was looking at his stuffed animal curiously. Daddy had given him an elephant. It was a dark gray color with two huge floppy ears and two tiny white tusks. It had eyes as black as night and little light gray lines running down the length of its trunk. "Thanks," he whispered, hugging the elephant tightly to his chest. He didn't know why, but he loved it.

"You're welcome, sweet boy," Daddy said, coming over to kiss his head, too. "Are you ready for the second part of the surprise?"

"Yeah!" Blaine said excitedly, bouncing again. "Me an' King Weo is weady!"

"King Leo?" Daddy asked, grinning.

"Is my wion," Blaine explained.

"I like that name. Does your elephant have a name, Kurt?" Daddy asked.

Kurt shook his head. "No' yet."

"That's okay," Daddy replied. "You can think about it for a while. I thought it might be fun to watch a movie before bedtime. Would you like that?" Dave asked.

"Yeah! Movie!" Blaine shouted. "I pick?"

"I already picked," Daddy explained. "We're going to watch _The Jungle Book_."

Kurt clapped a little at that. "I yike dat one," he said quietly, letting his speech regress a bit more.

"I yuv Jun'le Book!" Blaine said happily. "King Weo watch, too?"

"Of course!" Daddy replied. "Let's go get the two of you changed into jammies, and then we'll come back and put in the movie."

"Daddy," Blaine whine. "Is too early for bed."

"I'm not saying you have to go to bed," Daddy replied. "But, if you keep whining at me, I'll change my mind."

"No. Fair." Blaine stomped his feet against the floor.

"Come on, Blainers," Kurt said, holding out his had to his husband. "Daddy said jammies then movie. Come on."

With a pout, Blaine took Kurt's hand and followed him to their bedroom, Daddy bringing up the rear. It didn't take Dave long to get the two of them into jammies. He decided that he would order some fun pajamas for them online and have them over-nighted to the apartment. All Kurt and Blaine owned that would work for pajamas were old sweatpants and over-sized t-shirts. While they looked adorable, Dave wanted something that would make them feel little. Then, they all padded back to the living room to watch the movie, stuffies in hand.

When Dave returned to the couch after putting in the DVD, he sat down between the boys, and Kurt poked at his arm.

"Daddy?"

"Yes, my Kurt?" Dave wasn't sure he was allowed to say that, but it was just another one of those things he couldn't keep from rolling off his tongue. He was definitely in Daddy mode now.

"I named my el'phant," Kurt said softly.

"What's his name?" Dave whispered as the movie started.

"Her name," Kurt replied, petting at the elephants head.

"Okay. What's her name?" Dave repeated.

"Win'fred."

"Winifred?"

"Uh huh. From da movie," Kurt said, pointing to the screen.

"That's very creative, sweet boy," Daddy said giving him a gentle hug. "I like that name."

Kurt beamed, feeling better with Daddy's praise. He was trying to be a good boy and feel more comfortable. It certainly helped that Daddy was being so nice.

Before the movie was over, Blaine had fallen asleep, resting heavily against Dave's side, King Leo tucked under his chin.

Kurt was still awake, but he was rubbing one of Winifred's ears between his fingers, and he looked exhausted.

Dave clicked the power button on the remote and turned to Kurt. "Are you ready for bed?" he whispered.

Kurt nodded. "Sweepy."

"Blaine's asleep," Dave said. "I'll carry him to bed. Go ahead and go." He motioned with his head down the hallway.

"Okay," Kurt replied, glancing around Dave at Blaine's sleeping form, a gentle smile on his face. He quietly got up and headed for his bedroom, stopping for a moment to ask, "Daddy? Where you sleep?"

"I'll sleep on the couch," Dave said. "You boys will be okay in the big bed."

Kurt nodded. "'kay." Then, he headed back toward the bedroom and climbed into bed with a large yawn.

Dave scooped Blaine into his arms, careful not to wake him, and carried him back to his and Kurt's bedroom. He gently laid him down on the bed, slipping the covers over him and making sure King Leo was still tucked in his arms. "Good night, my Blaine," he whispered, leaning over to kiss him gently on the forehead.

Blaine wiggled a little in his sleep but didn't wake.

Rounding the bed, Dave helped Kurt to lay down and adjusted the covers over him before pressing a kiss to his forehead. "Good night, my Kurt," he whispered. "Sweet dreams."

"Night, Daddy," Kurt said, yawning again. "You be okay on da couch?"

"I'll be fine," Dave promised. "You get some sleep. I'll be here when you wake up in the morning. If you or Blaine need me in the middle of the night, come get me. Okay?"

"'kay," Kurt agreed, snuggling up to Blaine, Winifred in his arms.

"Good boy," Dave praised before walking toward the door and turning out the light. He left the door cracked a bit, just in case they needed him. He tiptoed to the couch, quickly taking off his jeans and slipping into a pair of gym shorts. He shut off the light and lay on the couch in the darkness, staring up at the ceiling. All in all, he thought, the day had gone pretty well. There had been some testing, and there would be more the next day. But, his boys seemed happy. That was all he could ask for. Dave drifted off to sleep with a smile on his face, excited for what the next day would bring for them.


	7. The First Weekend: Saturday Morning

Dave hardly slept that night. Kurt and Blaine's couch was really comfortable, and he was exhausted. However, he kept thinking about all the things he wanted to do with his boys and how excited he was to spend an entire day with them. Kurt and Blaine made for adorable littles when they weren't being brats, and his daddy side had grown very attached to them. He sighed, rolling onto his other side for the millionth time. Who was he kidding? All of him was attached to those boys, both big and little. And they were always cute.

Finally, at about 5:30 in the morning, Dave decided to just get up. He remembered that Blaine had been an early riser when they were together, and he wanted to have some breakfast ready for him when he woke. So, he quietly padded to the kitchen and found their griddle. Then, he scrounged around for everything that he needed to make smiling sunshine pancakes. He pulled the strawberries and blueberries that he' purchased the day before out of the fridge, washed them, and began to slice the strawberries into thin slices. Then, he pulled up a recipe for pancakes on his phone and set about making the batter. He was just pouring the first round of batter onto the griddle when Blaine stumbled into the kitchen.

"Daddy?" he asked, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. His curly hair was a wild mess on top of his head.

"Hi, little monkey," Dave greeted, pulling his groggy boy into his arms. "You're up early." He glanced at the clock. 6:12.

"No' s'eepy," Blaine explained, leaning into Daddy's warm embrace. His thumb crept toward his mouth, but he suddenly jumped back, gasping. "Forgetted King Yeo!"

Dave chuckled. Blaine had pronounced his lion's name every way but "Leo." "Do you want me to go get him?" he offered. "Is he in your bed?"

Blaine nodded. "Wif Kurt. He s'eepin'."

"I'll be quiet," Dave promised, walking toward their bedroom. He turned to remind Blaine, "Don't touch the griddle. It's hot. I'll be right back."

Blaine nodded. "I won't!"

On his tiptoes, Dave sneaked into Kurt and Blaine's bedroom. He smiled at the sight of Kurt curled around Winifred, snoring lightly. His hair was a mess and he had one foot out from the covers. He whined a little as he shifted, but his eyes never opened.

Dave could see King Leo on Blaine's pillow and carefully picked up the lion, tiptoeing back out of the room after placing a gentle kiss on Kurt's forehead. As he walked into the living room, he found Blaine curled up on the couch.

"Daddy s'eep on couch?" Blaine asked?

Dave nodded. "I sure did." He tossed the stuffed lion toward Blaine on his way to the kitchen. The pancakes needed to be flipped.

Blaine followed him, thumb hovering near his mouth again. "What makin'?" he inquired, standing a little ways back from Daddy.

"Sunshine pancakes," Dave replied. "And bacon." That hadn't been the original plan, but he was going with it.

"How you make dem sunshines?" Blaine wanted to know. He stepped a little bit closer so he could peer over Daddy's shoulder.

"I'll show you when one's done. Are you hungry?" Dave asked, glancing at the boy over his shoulder.

Blaine nodded.

"Thirsty?"

Blaine nodded again, this time taking another step closer and grabbed onto Dave's waistband. He kept Leo tucked under one arm and let his other thumb slip into his mouth.

"Do you want some juice?" Dave asked. He could feel Blaine's hand at his waistband, a sign, he remembered, of a Blaine that needed some extra attention.

"Yeth," Blaine lisped around his thumb.

Dave flipped the pancakes from the griddle onto a waiting plate before he turned toward the fridge. "Apple or grape?" he asked.

Blaine followed him, his hand never leaving his waistband. "Gwape."

Dave nodded and filled a clean sippy cup with the requested grape juice then took the hand from his waistband to guide the boy to the counter, placing Blaine's body between him and the counter top. "Want to help me make your sunshine pancake?" he asked softly.

Blaine nodded.

"Okay. First, we need a pancake. Which one looks the yummiest?"

Blaine pointed to the one on top. He didn't care much about what the pancake looked like. He just wanted to see the smiley face.

"Then, we need blueberries," Dave explained, setting the pancake down on Blaine's plate and reaching for the fruit bowl. Can you get two for the eyes?" he asked.

Blaine plucked out two blueberries and set them gently on the pancake.

"A nose," Dave coached, grabbing a blueberry and setting it in the middle.

"An' a mouf?" Blaine guessed, thumb still between his lips.

"My smart boy," Dave praised. "We need six. Can you help me count?"

Blaine nodded, holding out fingers as Daddy counted six blueberries.

"One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six!" Dave placed them in a smile at the bottom of the pancake. "Then, we need some strawberries." He brought the bowl closer so he could use a spoon to pull out a few, setting them around the outer edge of the pancake, points up, to make the rays of the sun. When he was finished, he kissed Blaine's cheek. "All done. What do you think?"

Blaine clapped, his thumb slipping from his mouth. "Yay!"

"Ready to eat?" Daddy asked. He made a mental note to ask Blaine about a pacifier after breakfast.

"Daddy do?" Blaine wanted to know as Dave carried the sunshine pancake and Blaine's sippy cup to the table.

"Are you going to share your pancake with me?" Dave wanted to know.

"Uh huh!"

"Alright. Come here, monkey," he said fondly, pulling Blaine into his lap. They alternated bites as Blaine snuggled into Dave. He ate willingly, opening his mouth whenever Daddy asked and slurping on his juice whenever his cup was offered. Halfway through, Dave raised his hand to Blaine's forehead. "Do you feel okay?" he asked gently. Blaine didn't feel warm.

Blaine nodded. "'m fine, Daddy."

"Okay. You're just being an awfully snuggly boy this morning, and I wanted to make sure you didn't feel icky."

Blaine nodded again. "'m jus' s'eepy. We snuggle?"

"Are you full?" Dave asked. He was surprised. Blaine usually ate like a horse, and he'd only had a quarter of a pancake so far that morning.

"Yeah…"

"Well, let's finish this pancake; then, we can snuggle."

Blaine nodded, obediently opening his mouth for another bite. When the pancake was gone, he took another sip of juice before sliding off of Dave's lap and pulling on his hand. "'mon," he said.

"I'm coming, little monkey," Dave replied. "Go sit on the couch; I'll be there in a moment." Dave made a quick detour to the sink, dropping off their plate and fork before refilling Blaine's sippy and grabbing a pacifier. When he made it out to the living room, he found Blaine on the couch, thumb in his mouth, Leo on his shoulder. Dave plopped onto the couch next to Blaine, pulling the boy tightly against him. "How's my snuggly boy?" he asked.

"'m fibe," Blaine lisped around his thumb. "Jus' s'eepy."

"You could take a nap," Daddy suggested. "Or go back to bed."

Blaine was quiet for a long while. "Kur' is s'eepin'," he finally said.

Dave nodded, not sure where this was going. "He is."

"Kur' is sick?"

"I don't think so. He's just sleepy."

"He be mad if we wake him up?"

"Maybe," Daddy said.

"We wake him up?"

"I think we should let him sleep for a while," Daddy replied. "It's good for little boys to get lots of sleep."

"I is bad?"

"No, little monkey. You're not bad. You'll just have a nap later."

"Why?"

"Naps are good for little boys," Dave explained patiently. "Here." He held out a pacifier to Blaine. "Use this instead of your thumb."

Blaine tilted his head. "I gotta?"

"Just try it for me," Dave tried. "If you don't like it, we can talk." He knew Blaine had used them before when they were together and never had a problem with them. He doubted there would be a problem now. If he was being honest, Dave didn't have a problem with thumb sucking. He just didn't like the wet thumb prints that were left everywhere.

"'tay," Blaine agreed, removing his thumb and opening his mouth wide for Daddy to put in the pacifier. He sucked contentedly and pointed at the TV.

"Do you want to watch something?" Daddy guessed

Blaine nodded. "Yooney Toons?"

"Sure," Dave agreed switching on the TV. He made sure to keep the volume low so as not to wake Kurt and found an episode of Bugs Bunny. "Stay on the couch and drink your juice while you watch," Daddy instructed, carefully extracting himself from Blaine and the couch. "I'm going to go finish making the pancakes."

"'tay," Blaine agreed snuggling in with King Leo and his sippy cup of grape juice.

"Good boy." Dave kissed his forehead. "If you need me, I'll be in the kitchen."

Blaine nodded, eyes fixed on the screen. He watched cartoons quietly for a while, sucking on his paci and sipping at his grape juice. He could smell bacon now, and his tummy was getting kind of rumbly. But, he missed his Kurt. So, when the next commercial came on, he quietly tiptoed down the hallway to their bedroom and snuck in.

Kurt was still curled up tightly on his side, Winifred snuggled close. He was softly snoring, and Blaine couldn't help but smile. His husband was cute. Still, Blaine needed him to wake up acuz he was bored and wanted to p'ay. So, Blaine tiptoed around to Kurt's side of the bed and shook him gently. "Kur'!" he said in a stage whisper. "Kur'!"

"Uhhh," Kurt moaned. He rolled from his side to his back, but never opened his eyes.

Blaine decided to try a new tactic. He poked at Kurt's cheek with his index finger. "Kur'!" he whispered again.

Kurt batted Blaine's finger away. This time, he woke up more cracking an eye to glare at the intruder. "Go 'way!" he insisted, grabbing Blaine's pillow and flopping it over his face.

"Wake up!" Blaine insisted. "Wanna p'ay!"

"No!" Kurt was always grumpy when he woke up, and this morning, he was teetering between headspaces. Hearing Blaine use his little speech was definitely pushing him in that direction, and the little side of Kurt thought that being really mad at Blaine would be acceptable. Blaine shouldn't wake him up. "Go 'way, Blaine!" he insisted. "I don' wanna pway!"

Blaine pooched out his lower lip. "But...I miss you…"

Kurt peeked out at him from under the pillow. Blaine looked sad, but Kurt was still mad. "No!" he said, louder this time. "I. Don'. Wanna!" He pounded a fist against the mattress, grazing Blaine's arm on accident.

"Owwwww!" Blaine wailed, pulling back as though Kurt had punched him. "You hurted!"

"Nuh uh!" Kurt yelled, thoroughly exasperated. "Yeave me 'lone to s'eep!"

In the kitchen, Dave heard loud voices coming from the bedroom. "Blaine?" he asked walking briskly from where he'd been putting breakfast foods away for later into the living room. "Where are you?" A quick glance to the couch confirmed that his little boy had left the room, so he continued toward the bedroom. From the sounds of it, Kurt was not a happy camper.

"I teww Daddy you hitted me!" Blaine hollered.

"I tell him you waked me up!" Kurt shouted.

"That's enough. Both of you," Dave said, opening the door and stepping into the dim room. "Blaine Devon," he said, focusing on the curly-haired boy. "What are you doing in here?"

Blaine pouted, turning his best sad eyes to Daddy. "I comed to say 'Hi' to Kur' an' he hitted me!"

"Nuh uh!" Kurt began to protest. "I di-"

Dave held up his hand. "Just a moment, please," he told Kurt. "Blaine, didn't we talk about waking Kurt up?"

Blaine nodded sadly, studying his feet.

"And what did I say?"

"Yet him s'eep…"

"That's right. But, what did you choose to do instead?"

"I comed to wake him up," the boy whispered.

"I see," Dave said disapprovingly. "Should you have done that?"

"No…"

"So, what do you think you should do now?"

"'powogize?" Blaine guessed.

"That's a good idea," Dave agreed, gesturing toward Kurt.

Blaine didn't look, continuing to stare at his feet sadly as he said, "'m sowwy I wakeded you up, Kur'. I jus' misseded you, an' I wanna p'ay wi-" He broke off, tears leaking out of his eyes. He felt bad now.

"Is okay, my Blainers," Kurt said, his heart softening a bit. "C'mere." He held out his hand to his sad husband.

Blaine immediately ran over and threw himself ontop of Kurt.

Kurt gave Daddy a confused look. "Is he otay?" he asked softly as he rubbed Blaine's back.

Dave nodded. "I think he's just having an emotional day," he explained. He walked to the bed and pulled Blaine into his arms, rocking him gently as he cooed to him. "You're okay," he promised. "Kurt's not mad. I'm not mad. You're okay."

After a minute, Blaine was sniffling against Dave's chest. "Sowwy," he said again, wiping at his nose with his arm.

"You're forgiven," Daddy assured, grabbing a tissue and holding it to Blaine's nose. "Blow." After tossing the used tissue into the nearby garbage can, he turned to Kurt, still holding Blaine close. "Did you hit him?" he asked softly.

Kurt shook his head. "Uh uh."

"My arm," Blaine whispered against Daddy's chest. "When you hitted da bed…"

Dave looked to Kurt. "Did you hit the bed."

A nod.

"Can you apologize, please?"

"Sorry, Blaine," Kurt muttered. He had been feeling less grumpy when Blaine started to cry, but having to apologize when he hadn't done anything wasn't fair. So, he glared at Blaine. He was being a meanie!

"Do you want to go back to sleep?" Daddy asked, shifting Blaine against him. "It's still early. You can go back to sleep for a little while."

"No. I get up," Kurt answered, irritated. There would be no going back to sleep now.

"Okay," Dave replied. "Blaine and I will go out to the living room. I made sunshine pancakes and bacon for breakfast. I can heat some up for you in a minute."

"No' hungry," Kurt replied, sliding out of bed. "Jus' wan' coffee."

Dave grimaced. This was going to be a battle. "No coffee for little boys," he said gently, standing up but keeping Blaine tightly against him.

Kurt turned a powerful glare toward Dave and stomped his foot. "Coffee," he repeated.

"I'm sorry, Kurt," Dave said, walking toward the door. "Little boys can't have coffee. I'll make you some breakfast. Do you want grape juice or apple juice?"

"Coffee!"

"I'll pour you some apple," Daddy offered. "Blaine and I will be at the table." Then, he shut the door behind them.

"I makeded Kur' mad?" Blaine asked as they headed toward the table.

"No," Dave replied. "But, he's grumpy because he's still tired."

Blaine sighed. "'m sorry, Daddy. I jus' needed him."

"You're forgiven, monkey," Dave assured gently. "We'll just take naps this afternoon."

With a small huff, Blaine whined, "Don' wanna nap."

"Whiney boys are sleepy boys," Dave replied. "Do you want some bacon?"

Blaine nodded. "An' pancake?"

"You're hungry now?" Dave chuckled.

"Uh huh!"

"I'll make you a pancake, too," Daddy replied, booping Blaine's nose on his way to the microwave with 2 pancakes and some bacon strips.

"Fank you," Blaine told him, smiling sweetly. "More juice pwease?"

"Grape?" Daddy asked.

Blaine nodded.

"Be right back," Dave promised. He was happy to see that Blaine wasn't stuck on Kurt being grumpy and upset. He knew that when Blaine was little, he tended to be overly emotional. He wanted to avoid meltdowns if he could. With how grumpy and upset Kurt was, he wasn't sure they'd be avoidable that morning, however. Nap time would be a blessing for all of them.

When Kurt finally made it to the table several minutes later, he found a smiling pancake designed to look like a sunshine, a few strips of bacon, and a sippy cup full of juice. He glared at the pancake as he slid into his chair. It's smile was making him angrier. Grumpy, he wolfed down his pancake and bacon in as few bites as possible and then sat back in his chair with his arms crossed, glaring at the sippy cup in front of him.

Blaine, who had been gnawing on his own bacon and pancake much slower, asked Kurt, "You firsty, Kur'?"

"No! Yeave me 'yone!"

Blaine made a pouty face at Daddy.

"Kurt, be nice," Daddy admonished. "I know you're upset about not getting coffee, and I'm sorry that bothers you."

"You're mean!" Kurt accused angrily! "You don' yike me!"

His angrier was making his speech regress, Dave noted as he leaned forward. "I love you, Kurt. I want you to be happy. But, you can't have everything that you want."

"Jus'. Wan'. Coffee!"

"I'm sorr-"

Kurt smashed his fist on the table and yelled loudly, making Blaine jump.

"Kurt, take a deep breath. You can't use nice words if you're yelling and hitting."

"No! I don' wanna! I be mad if I wan'!"

"You're allowed to be angry," Dave agreed, nodding. "But, you're not allowed to punch the table or yell."

Kurt ignored him, this time kicking the table harshly with his foot as he yelled again.

"Kurt, don't do that again, please," Dave instructed calmly.

Just to see what Dave would do, Kurt kicked the table harder, screaming as he looked at Daddy's face. He was angry, and while he knew that disobeying Daddy might not be a good idea, he didn't care. Blaine had woken him up, he was still sleepy, and he just wanted some coffee. That morning was not fair!

Daddy fixed him with The Look. "Kurt Elizabeth," he said evenly. "Come here, please."

"No!"

"Right now," Dave explained calmly, "you're not in trouble. I just want to talk to you. If you keep shouting at me and kicking or hitting the table, you're going to go to timeout."

Kurt was stuck. He had thought Daddy would be mad, and he'd been afraid of getting a spanking. Now that he knew Daddy just wanted to talk, he wanted to go, but he didn't want to just give in. So, he folded his arms across his chest and huffed, not moving.

"Kurt, I'm going to count to three. If you don't come over here so we can talk, you're going to timeout." Daddy held up one finger. "One."

Blaine had been watching the whole thing with wide eyes. His Kurt was going to be in trouble, and he didn't know what to do. When Daddy started counting, though, he urged, "Kur', go! Daddy not mad."

"Two," Daddy said. "Let him make his own decisions, please, Blaine. I know you're trying to help, but Kurt has to pick by himself." He smiled reassuringly at his boy.

"Fine," Kurt growled, rising and pushing his chair back with a hard shove. He stomped over to Daddy and stood in front of him, arms crossed, pouting.

Despite the resistance, Daddy pulled Kurt close to him and kissed his forehead. "I know you're grumpy," he whispered low in his ear. "I know you're tired, and you're not getting your way. But, you can't shout and hit things. There are other things you can do to express your anger. Do you know what those are?"

Kurt shook his head, relaxing a little. Daddy was being nice, and his voice was calm and soothing.

"Instead of shouting, you could sing. You could tell me you need some alone time or calmly tell me that you have a problem. But," he said, tilting Kurt's chin up so their eyes met, "I can't help if you don't tell me what's wrong. Shouting and hitting won't help me understand. Does that make sense?"

Tears filling his eyes, Kurt nodded. "Sorry," he whispered.

"You're forgiven, sweet boy," Daddy replied, kissing his cheeks. "Now, I think that you should get to pick a fun thing for us to do this morning. What would you like to do?" He pulled Kurt into a sitting position on his lap, wrapping his arms around the boy's waist and giving Blaine a smile. "Everything's okay," he mouthed to the other boy who was watching them curiously.

Blaine smiled at them around his sippy cup. "We do sumpin' fun, Kur'?" he asked.

"Um, tea party?" Kurt offered. "Wif King Yeo and Winifred?"

"Yeah!" Blaine cheered, jumping up from the table and dancing around the kitchen. "Tea par'y! Tea par'y!"

"You, too?" Kurt asked, turning around to look at Daddy. "Is okay?"

"It's perfectly okay, Kurt," Daddy replied. "Is your tummy full?"

Kurt nodded. He hadn't had much to eat, but he never really liked having breakfast. He never felt hungry until closer to lunchtime, and eating too much in the morning gave him a tummy ache.

"Okay. Let me get breakfast put away. Then, we'll change you out of your jammies, so we can play."

"'tay, Daddy," Kurt said, sliding off of his lap and grabbing Blaine by his hand. "Tum on, Blainers. Yet's go wait for Daddy inna bedroom."

"Yay!" Blaine hollered, running down the hallway, giggling, Kurt right behind him.

Daddy shook his head as he walked into the kitchen to put the fruit and pancakes away again. When Blaine was tired, he bounced off the walls and giggled. When Kurt was tired, he was grumpy. It was going to be a long morning, Daddy was sure. He would have to make the boys an early lunch and shuffle them off to bed. Hopefully, they could make it through the morning without too many problems. Glancing at the oven timer, he noted that it was only a little after 8. They had at least three hours to go before he could safely make lunch. He sighed, straightening his shoulders as he made his way down the hallway to the bedroom. He could do this.

It was easy to get the boys dressed. They were easy to please, each of them willingly pulling on a pair of jeans and comfy t-shirts. Dave was even able to convince them to brush their teeth. Then, he sat them down at the table with tea cups, a pot of hot water, and their stuffies, going back to the kitchen for a few crackers to have. Kurt and Blaine had been buzzing in the bedroom, eager to talk about their plans for the party and how they were going to make each of their animals sound. He thought they would be excited to get started with their tea party, but instead of getting along well, they almost instantly began to argue because Kurt was being bossy.

"No, Blainers," he complained with a loud huff. "King Yeo not sittin' there!" He pointed at the stuffed lion on the chair. "He hassa sit by Win'fred!"

"No! I wan' him here!" Blaine insisted, pouting.

"No!" Grabbing the stuffed lion, Kurt moved him to sit by Winifred, smiling happily. "There. Now they get to talk."

"Nuh uh!" Blaine said, picking up his stuffie and moving him back. "I wanna talk wif him."

"Buh! Laine!" Kurt screeched, stomping his foot. "You is not p'ayin' right! You gotta do what I says!"

"Daddy!" Blaine whined. "Kur' no' bein' nice to me!"

"Boys, behave, please," Dave called. He couldn't really hear what they were saying, but he knew it wasn't good. He finished plating up the crackers and came back to the table just in time to see Kurt grab King Leo and throw him into the hallway.

That made Blaine wail at the top of his lungs. He ran to the toy in the hallway, falling onto his knees beside it and crying into its fur.

"Kurt Elizabeth!" Dave exclaimed, setting the plate of crackers on the table. "That was not nice. You need to go stand in timeout, please," he said, pointing toward the corner he'd used the night before.

"No!" Kurt shouted, stomping. "No timeout! Blaine's bein' mean! He's not p'ayin' right!"

"'m no' mean!" Blaine wailed from the floor. "Jus' wanna sit by King Yeo!"

"You ruin it!" Kurt yelled angrily.

At that, Blaine decided he'd had enough. He jumped up from his spot on the floor and ran to the table. He grabbed Winifred from her spot at the table and flung her across the room, hitting a plant and knocking it off of its stand and onto the floor. The pot shattered, dirt flying everywhere.

"That is enough!" Dave said, loudly enough to get both of the boys' attention. "Kurt, go to timeout. Now." When the little boy didn't move, Dave grabbed him by the arm and marched him to the corner, giving his bottom a smart smack. "Stay there until I tell you to come out," he instructed, turning to Blaine. "You. That corner. Now." He pointed to another corner across the room.

Blaine began to whimper. "'m sorry, Daddy! I didn' me-"

"Corner," Daddy said severely.

Blaine scurried to his corner and sniffled, feeling sorry for himself.

Dave didn't say anything after that. He needed a minute. The situation had gotten out of hand before he'd really even known what was happening, and it was clear that both boys were exhausted. He didn't want to punish them too harshly, but he knew he couldn't let this go. They'd broken more than one rule, and since they were just starting out, they needed to know that he would follow through with punishments. Sighing deeply, he decided he'd get it out of the way and spank both of them. First spankings were a big deal; Blaine had gunned for one from the beginning the first time they'd done this, but once they'd gotten it out of the way, he'd tried to avoid them. Sine Dave knew that there was more to their bad behaviour than just rule breaking, he decided a spanking, not too hard, and a nap would be punishment enough.

He rose from the couch and went to the closet to get the vacuum. He would clean up the potting soil while they were in time out. Then, he would deal with them one at a time. He kept an eye on both of his miscreants as he vacuumed. They both seemed to be feeling guilty for what they had done. Though they weren't turning around, they were fidgeting and squirming as they stared at the wall, waiting for Daddy to talk to them.

Once the plant was vacuumed up, the broken pieces of the pot in the trash, and the plant itself in some water, Daddy sat down heavily on the couch. "Kurt," he called gently. "Come here, please."

With teary eyes, Kurt approached Daddy, stopping a few feet from the couch, hands behind his back. "Sorry I was mean to Blainers," he whispered. "I won' frow King Yeo ever 'gain."

"I'm glad you're sorry," Daddy agreed. "After we're done here, I'd like for you to apologize to Blaine, too. But, can you tell me why you're in trouble?" Daddy asked, holding out his hands to the boy.

Kurt hesitated, not sure if he should take Daddy's offer or not. Finally, he inched closer, grabbing onto his outstretched hands. "I frowed King Yeo," he offered.

"That's right. That wasn't very respectful of Blaine or his toys, was it?" Daddy asked.

"No, sir."

"What else?"

"Um...I yewwed?"

"That's right. Yelling isn't very respectful, is it?"

Kurt shook his head sadly.

"There's one more."

The boy thought carefully for a minute then shrugged. "I dunno…"

"You didn't listen when I told you to go to timeout, did you?" Dave asked. When the little boy shook his head again, Daddy continued, "Daddy only has five rules. Why do we have rules, Kurt?"

"To keep me safe?" Kurt asked, glancing at Daddy's face.

"That's right. I want to keep you and Blaine safe and happy. And the only way I can do that is if you follow the rules, right?"

A nod.

"Good boy. So, what happens when you break rules?"

"Punished…" Kurt whispered. His stomach dropped as he thought about it, and his chest constricted. He didn't want to be in trouble. He didn't like this. Tears began leaking down his cheeks.

"That's right," Dave said quietly. He didn't want to do this. Seeing Kurt crying was making him feel like the worst Daddy in the world, but he knew he needed to do it to get it out of the way. It would make things so much easier for all of them if they got this out of the way now. "So," he said gently, pulling Kurt into a tight embrace as he handed down the sentence, "I'm going to spank your bottom an-"

"No! Please no spankin'!" Kurt yelled, not even listening to the rest of the punishment. Spankin's were bad, and he didn't want one. It was gonna hurt.

"Shhh," Daddy soothed, pulling him close again and running gentle fingers through his hair. "Just listen, please. After the spankin', you and Blaine and I are going to do something calm and relaxing. We're going to have an early lunch and naptime after that. You'll feel so much better after you have a nap. Then, we can have a nice afternoon together."

"Nooooo," Kurt wailed, leaning into Daddy's chest. "Don' wanna spankin'! Don' wan' it! Promise I'll be good, Daddy. P'ease no…"

He sounded so pitiful that Dave almost took it back. Almost. "I know you don't want a spanking. I don't want to give you one. But, when you make bad choices, there are consequences. And these are your consequences." He reached down with one hand to unbutton and unzip Kurt's jeans, using his other to keep the boy close. That was the only way he was going to get this done without a fight.

"Daddy! P'ease don' spank my Kurt!" Blaine protested from his corner, whirling around to look at them both. "I was naughty! I frowed Win'fred! Don' spank Kur'!"

"Turn back around," Daddy instructed firmly. "You need to worry about your own punishment, please."

"Bu-"

"Turn around, Blaine. Don't make me tell you again." Dave loved Daddying...except when he had to be the tough Daddy. Then, he felt like an asshole.

Reluctantly, Blaine did as he was told.

"P'ease!" Kurt begged, even as Daddy pushed his pants and underwear down. "P'ease no!" I be good! I be good!"

"Shhh," Dave whispered again, pulling the teary boy over his lap and rubbing his back. "You'll be okay. It won't last long. I promise."

Kurt continued to wail, so Dave began, hoping to get it over with quickly. He smacked each cheek alternately, sometimes doing two on one side before moving to the other side. Then, he applied a few swats to Kurt's sit spots before repeating. The spanking didn't last more than a minute or two, Kurt's cheeks a mild shade of pink when Daddy stopped smacking. But, Kurt didn't stop crying the whole time, wailing as though Daddy was breaking him to pieces.

"It's all over," Daddy soothed, rubbing his hand up and down Kurt's back. "Shh. You're okay. It's all over. You're okay." He kept up his gentle shushing until Kurt's tears had subsided. "Come here," he whispered, helping the boy to stand and pulling him into a tight hug, one hand reaching down to pull his jeans and underwear back up. "You were so good for me. My good, sweet boy," he praised. "My good, good boy." When Kurt was finally done crying, he took a step back and let Dave wipe the leftover tears from his cheeks. "There," he said. "Come with me, please." He led Kurt over to a small table on the other side of the room where he'd positioned a pillow from the couch, a coloring book, and crayons. "While I talk with Blaine, I want you to stay over here and color," he said. "You can lay on your tummy or sit on the pillow, but I want you to color until I'm done with Blaine. Can you do that for me?"

Kurt nodded solemnly. "You gonna spank him?" he whispered as he lay down on the floor.

"Worry about yourself, please," Daddy instructed, placing a kiss on Kurt's forehead. He wasn't sure if he was allowed to say this, but he tried it anyway. "Love you, sweet boy."

Pausing for only a minute, Kurt gave him a tiny smile. "Yove you, too."

Dave went back to the couch, sitting down where he'd been only moments before. "Blaine," he said this time, "come here, please."

Blaine ran to Daddy, throwing his arms around his neck and squeezing him before stepping back. "You gon' spank me?" he whispered, looking shamefaced.

"I am," Dave agreed, figuring there was no reason to beat around the bush. "But, I want to talk with you first. Can you tell me what happened?"

"I didn' yike where Kurt was puttin' King Yeo, and den he frowed 'im 'n' I getted mad so I frowed Win'fred and broked a pwant…"

"I see. Why didn't you come get Daddy to help you?"

"I yewweded for you, but den he frowed King Yeo!"

"Then you should have waited for Daddy to help you," Dave explained gently. "Throwing things isn't going to keep you from getting into trouble."

Blaine nodded sadly. "I know."

"Can you tell me what rules you broke?" Dave asked gently, running a hand up and down Blaine's arm.

"I was dis'spectful, and I didn' yis'en."

"That's right," Daddy replied. "When we throw things or break things, that's not being very respectful, is it?" When he got a head shake, he continued, "And when I told you to go to time out and you didn't, that's not using good listening skills, right?" Another head shake. "So, I'm going to give you a spanking. Then, you and Kurt and I are going to do something relaxing until we have an early lunch and a nap. After your nap, we'll have a nice afternoon together. Okay?"

Blaine nodded sadly even as he said, "I don' wan' a spankin'."

"I don't like to spank you," Dave said, feeling like a broken record. "But, when we make naughty choices, we have to deal with the consequences." He reached down and undid the button and zipper of Blaine's jeans. When he reached to pull them down, however, Blaine's hands stopped him.

"Yeave pants on?" he begged pathetically.

"Sorry, little monkey," Dave said. "You know spankings happen on bare bottoms." He waited for Blaine to move his hands and then pushed his pants down, helping him over his lap. He spanked Blaine in much the same way he had Kurt, swatting his cheeks before smacking his sit spots and then starting over.

Blaine wasn't as hysterical as Kurt; he knew what to expect, and even though the spanking hurt, it wasn't bad as spankings go. By the end, there were tears on his cheeks, but he stood right away, latching on to Daddy as the man helped him pull his underpants and jeans back into place. "Sorry, sorry, sorry," he mumbled into Dave's shoulder. "I be good now."

"You're my good boy," Dave praised, rubbing his back. "My good good boy. You did so well, and everything's over now. You're okay. I promise. You're okay." He rocked the boy a little until the tears were gone.

Blaine stepped back, allowing Daddy to wipe the tears from his cheeks. "I go 'pologize to Kur' now?" he asked softly.

"Of course," Dave said. "Thank you."

As Blaine approached Kurt, the other boy stood up, and the two embraced, mumbling apologies to one another and holding onto the other tightly. When they broke apart, Dave was standing there with King Leo and Winifred.

The boys embraced him simultaneously before taking back their animals. "Please don't throw them any more," Dave said. "Now, how do you feel about some Candyland?"

The little family spent their morning together playing board games. Kurt and Blaine, while their bottoms were a little sore, both silently agreed that Daddy had been pretty nice to them. By the time Dave had lunch ready, the spankings seemed like an unpleasant dream, and they happily sat at the table to eat their peanut butter sandwiches and grapes. They both slurped down cups of water and chatted with Daddy about what they wanted to do with their afternoon.

"Watch movie?" Blaine asked hopefully. They had just watched The Jungle Book, but he loved watching movies with Daddy and Kurt. It was snuggly.

"Maybe after your nap," Dave reminded them. "What movie would you like to watch?"

"Um...Toy Story?" Blaine suggested. "Or Bruvver Bear?"

"Do we gots to nap?" Kurt asked, swallowing a bite of sandwich. "'m not even tired!"

"Oh, I think you are," Dave countered. "You're both taking naps; you won't convince me otherwise."

"But naps is boring!" Kurt protested. Now that he'd had some fun, he was eager to spend more time with Daddy and Blaine.

"More boring than time out?" Dave asked with a raised eyebrow.

"No, sir," Kurt whispered. Time out was super duper boring, and naps were only a little boring. At least he'd have Blaine.

"'m s'eepy, Kur'," Blaine informed him. "'m gonna s'eep yike Daddy as'd." He gave Daddy a winning smile. Then, turning to Kurt he asked, "You, too? Wif me an' King Yeo and Win'fred?"

"Yeah…" Kurt grumbled, holding back a yawn. Maybe he was tired."

"Okay. Finish up," Dave said, rising to throw away his napkin. "Then it's off to bed for two sleepy boys." Less than 15 minutes later, Daddy had them both tucked tightly into bed with their stuffies, sippy cups of water on their night stands.

"Stowwy?" Blaine asked hopefully.

"Just one," Dave replied. "Which story would you like?"

"Um...Where da Wild Fings Are?"

"Is that okay with you, Kurt?"

The boy nodded. "I yike dat one," he admitted.

"Okay." Dave pulled the book down from the shelf and read it to his tired boys, doing his best to make voices for the characters in the brief story. Kurt was asleep before he was done. Dave gave each of the boys a kiss on the forehead. "Sleep tight," he murmured to Blaine.

"Yove you, Daddy," Blaine told him, eyes drifting shut.

"Love you, too, my little monkey," Dave said. Then, he tiptoed out of the bedroom and collapsed on the couch. He was exhausted. The morning had been as draining for him as it had been for the boys. Since he hadn't slept well, he figured a nap would do him good so he'd be ready for their afternoon better. As he laid down and shut his eyes, he crossed his fingers as he spoke. "This afternoon will be better," he whispered. "This afternoon will be better." Then, he set an alarm for an hour later and drifted off into dreamland himself.


	8. The First Weekend: Saturday Night

Dave had only been asleep for about an hour when he felt a gentle poking at his face. His eyelids fluttered as he awoke, squinting at the figure standing beside the couch. "Kurt?" he asked. His voice was groggy and deep.

"Uh huh," Kurt nodded, clutching his elephant against his chest. "I talk to you?"

"Sure, sweet boy. What's up?" Dave asked, sitting up. He stretched his arms over his head with a yawn before patting the cushion next to him. "What's up?" he said again, prompting Kurt to sit down next to him.

Kurt sat down, tucking Winifred under his chin. He thought for a minute, his lips pinched together in a tight line. "You fink my Blainers mad at me?" he asked quietly.

Dave had tucked his arm around the boy's shoulders, and he gave him a gentle squeeze. "Why would Blaine be mad at you?"

"I nah vewwy nice to him," Kurt explained solemnly. "I frowded his yion."

"That was this morning. Everyone was tired this morning. Even me." Just then, Dave's phone began to beep. Confused, he quickly swiped the screen. Then, a huge smile broke out across his face. "That was my alarm," he explained to Kurt. "I forgot I had turned it on before I went to sleep." He shut off the alarm then set his phone back down next to him. "We all do things we don't mean when we're tired."

"Even you?"

Dave nodded. "Even me. Sometimes, when I'm tired, I get mad at other people for no reason. I might yell or stomp my feet. Then, after I get some more sleep, I realize that I was mean, and I apologize. Everything's okay after that."

Kurt looked confused. "So, I tell my Blainers I is sorry?"

"You don't have to tell him anything," Dave explained. "We took care of all of your naughty behavior this morning, remember? When Blaine wakes up, he'll be in a good mood, and we can all do something fun."

"He nah be mad?"

"Where is this coming from, Kurt?" Dave asked. "Was Blaine mad at you while you were in bed?"

Kurt shook his head. "Not 'xac'ly…"

"What does that mean?"

"I hadda dweam," Kurt explained. "Blainers was mad a'cuz I frowed his toy, and it goed out the window. And it was losted forever an' ever an' ever." His lower lip began to tremble as he thought about the dream again. "He was vewwy, vewwy mad at me. His yion was his bestest fwiend, and I frowed it…" One tear slipped down his cheek.

"Oh, Kurt," Dave soothed, wiping the tear away with his thumb. "Don't cry, sweet boy. It was just a dream. Is that what woke you up?"

Kurt nodded, sniffling. "I was sad."

"I'm sorry, honey," Dave replied, hugging the boy close and kissing his hair. "I'm sorry you had a bad dream. But, it's all over now, and I promise you that Blaine isn't mad. He's just sleeping. And, when he wakes up, he's going to be really happy to see you." He kissed Kurt's damp cheek. "Do you know what else?" he whispered in Kurt's ear.

"Wha'?"

"I think that you are actually Blaine's best friend."

"I is?"

Dave nodded. "You are. Blaine loves you so much that he asked me to come here and help you. Only someone who loves you a lot and thinks you're pretty great would do that for you, right?"

Kurt tapped his chin for a moment, thinking. "I fink you is right," he decided. "But, Daddy?"

"Yeah, sweet boy?"

"Me an' Bwainers yuv you."

"And I love you and Blaine," Dave replied, squeezing Kurt again and kissing his temple. "What would you like to do until Blaine wakes up?"

"Um, I color?"

"Sure! Are you going to finish that awesome Cinderella picture from yesterday?" Dave asked, standing up from the couch and reaching for Kurt's hand. "I left it out for you along with your box of crayons."

"Yeah!" Kurt agreed, skipping beside Daddy toward the kitchen table. "I show Win'fred how pretty it is!"

"I'm sure Winifred will love it," Dave agreed, smiling. He grabbed the picture and box of crayons from the counter where he'd stored them, offering them to Kurt. "Are you thirsty?"

"Wan' juice, p'ease," Kurt said, sliding into his chair.

"What kind of juice?"

"Appa juice?"

"Apple juice it is. Thank you for using your manners." Kurt happily sat at the table, coloring on his page and sipping his juice. He talked animatedly to Winifred, describing what he was doing to her he filled the entire page with color.

Daddy prepared a snack for the boys while Kurt colored. He knew they hadn't had a big lunch, and he was sure they'd be hungry. So, he sliced grapes, oranges, and apples for a snack, sliding their plates back into the fridge when he was finished. He glanced at the clock. Blaine had been asleep for nearly two hours. He'd give him a little more time, but he'd need to wake the boy up soon. Otherwise, he wouldn't sleep tonight.

"Whatcha doing, sweet boy?" Dave asked, lifting Kurt up from his chair and sliding in so he could situate the boy on his lap.

"Am colorin'!" Kurt giggled. "An' talkin' to Win'fred!"

"You're such a good colorer," Dave complimented, kissing his cheek. "Can I hang this one on the fridge?" He tapped at the corner of the picture.

"You yike it?" Kurt asked, turning a bit so he could look at Daddy.

"I love it," Dave confirmed.

"Den, you takes it home," Kurt decided. He pushed the picture to the side. "I has 'nuvver one?"

"Sure," Dave agreed, kissing Kurt's head as he slid out from underneath him to retrieve the coloring books. "Do you want another princess picture?"

"Puppies!" Kurt replied. "Wan' puppies!"

"Puppies it is," Dave agreed. He handed the book to Kurt. "Choose a good one. I'm gonna go wake up Blaine. Can you be a good boy?"

"Uh huh. B'aine is s'eepin'?"

"Yeah. But, he needs to wake up so he will be ready for bed tonight." Dave hesitated in the doorway. "Do you wanna come with me?" Kurt had been afraid Blaine would be mad at him. Maybe he was still nervous.

"Nuh! Uh! B'ainers be grumpy acuz he s'eepy! I stay here."

"Alright. Color me a pretty puppy picture. I'll be back soon. Then, we'll watch a movie and have a snack."

"Yay!" Kurt bounced in his chair. "Movie!"

Dave grinned, walking down the hallway toward the bedroom. He hadn't seen Kurt really let go and just be little yet, but he thought some of his walls were coming down now. Dave had assumed it might take longer, so he was a little bit proud of himself for proving trustworthy to Kurt so quickly, even after a spanking.

When he got to the bedroom, Dave found that Kurt had left the door cracked. So, he peeked around the corner, grinning at the adorable picture Blaine made. The boy was sprawled out on the bed, arms and legs flopped wide like a starfish. He was lying on his tummy, his head falling halfway off the pillow, his wild, curly hair springing up everywhere. His right cheek was squished adorably against the pillow, and it was damp where he'd been drooling. Dave almost hated to wake him up.

Quietly, he pushed the door open further and crossed the room, perching on the edge of the bed. He rubbed a hand gently on the boy's hip as he whispered, "Blaine. Blaine, wake up, sweetheart."

The sleeping boy stirred just a bit, groaning. He rolled onto his back, but didn't open his eyes.

"Blaine, c'mon, my little monkey. Time to wake up."

"Uh uh," Blaine whined in a tiny voice, pushing at Daddy's hand.

"I know you're sleepy," Dave sympathized, patting his shoulder lightly. "But, Kurt's awake, and he's excited to see you. And I have a snack ready for you to eat while we watch a movie."

The little boy let his eyelids flutter open at that. "My Kur'?" he asked. "We watchin' movie?"

"After you get up," Dave agreed, smiling. He tickled Blaine's tummy just a bit. "Are you awake now?"

"Um...yeah. 'M s'eepy, Daddy," he mumbled as he sat up, collapsing against Dave.

"You'll feel better when you get a snack and some juice," Dave said. "What kind of juice do you want?"

"Wha' kind my Kur' has?"

"Apple."

"Appa!" Blaine wound his arms around Dave's neck and scooted onto his lap. "Daddy carry," he insisted. "Too s'eepy for walkin'."

"Uh huh," Dave answered as he rose, keeping the other boy balanced in front of him. As short as Blaine was, he was still strong, and he was super heavy. Dave carried him to the couch as quickly as he could, dropping him off at the left end of the couch, facing the TV. "You stay here," he commanded. "I'm going to get our snack and your sippy cup. I'll be right back." Before he could walk away, Blaine was being tackled by an enthusiastic Kurt.

"My B'ainers! You is 'wake now!" Kurt squeezed him tightly before leaning back to ask, "You is mad?"

"Kur'! Ge' offa me, Kur'!" Blaine demanded, pushing at Kurt's shoulders. "'M grumpy now acuz you 'ttacked me!"

Immediately, Kurt pooched out his lower lip. "I sowwy," he said, slinking back. "You is mad at me now." He looked up at Dave, who had been watching the exchange carefully, and said in a trembling voice, "I telled you he be mad at me."

"He's not mad, sweet boy," Dave said, crouching to be more on their level. "You just jumped on him, and he's still waking up. If you give him a few minutes, he'll come around and be just as happy to see you as you are to see him."

Kurt wasn't convinced. "How you know that?" he asked.

"Because I'm super smart," Dave said, smiling at his two boys. "Do you think you can be a big boy for a minute, Kurt, and help me bring out the snack so we can watch a movie?"

"I help! 'M big!" Blaine protested.

"You, little monkey, need to finish waking up," Dave said. "I want you to stay there while we get the snack and try to wake up a little more."

Out of the corner of his eye, Blaine caught sight of Winifred sitting on Kurt's abandoned kitchen chair. "Wan' Yeo!" he said. "I need him!"

"Go get King Leo, then come right back," Dave said, watching as the boy scrambled off. "Come on, sweet boy." He grabbed Kurt's hand. "Let's go get the snack and your sippy cups."

"Daddy? What we watchin'?" Kurt asked as he followed Dave into the kitchen.

"Can you keep a secret?" Dave asked, lowering his voice in case Blaine had made it back to the living room. He wanted to surprise his grumpy boy.

"Uh huh!" Then, Kurt's face fell. "Is not good to keep secrets," he told Daddy.

"The only reason it's a secret is because I want to surprise Blaine," Dave replied, pulling the plate of sliced fruit from the fridge. "Blaine's going to find out in just a few minutes what movie we're watching. But, if you don't want me to tell you, I won't. It's okay to not like secrets."

"I can be s'pized, too?" Kurt asked.

"Of course!" Dave made a mental note to not refer to surprises as secrets; he didn't want Blaine or Kurt to get their feelings hurt because they thought someone was keeping a secret from them. "Can you carry this?" he asked, passing the plate to Kurt. "You have to hold it steady so nothing spills."

"I do it. I help."

"Good boy. Carry that to the coffee table, then go get Winifred. I'll be out with your juice in a minute." He watched Kurt as he carefully tiptoed to the living room with the full plate of fruit. Dave quickly filled Blaine's cup with juice before retrieving Kurt's from the table and filling it as well. Then, he hurried back to the living room. He wasn't sure if Blaine would be feeling better yet, and he wanted to diffuse any fights before they began. He shouldn't have worried, though. When he rounded the corner, he found the two boys snuggled together, Blaine's head on Kurt's shoulder as he sucked on the pacifier he'd discarded earlier that morning. "I'm glad you're feeling better, little monkey," Dave commented as he put the cups down on the table. "Is there room for me?"

"I yean on Daddy?" Blaine asked Kurt, sitting up a bit.

Kurt nodded. "Me, too."

"Scoot then," Dave said. "I'll sit in the middle so you each have your own side." He settled into the middle cushion, reaching forward to grab the plate of fruit and the TV remote off of the coffee table.

"Wha' we watchin'?" Blaine asked, munching on an apple slice from the plate.

"I thought we would watch _The Lion King_ ," Dave replied as he turned the TV on and navigated to Disney Plus.

"Yay!" Blaine cheered, bouncing up and down excitedly. "Yion King!" Then, he gasped. "Daddy! Is yike King Yeo! 'Cept King Yeo not in Yion King." He squeezed his stuffy tightly, whispering, "You is a king, jus' yike Simba."

"Daddy?" Kurt whispered, poking at his arm. "I don' wanna watch dat movie."

"Why not?" Dave asked, stopping his search to look at Kurt.

"I don' yike it, really," Kurt explained. "Scary." He was embarrassed and hid his face in Dave's shirt.

"What movie would you be okay with watching then?" Dave asked. He didn't want watching a movie to be anything but fun for either of his boys. He'd have to try to find out later more about why Kurt wasn't a fan of _The Lion King_.

"Um, Bruvver Bear?" Kurt asked, peeking out from his hiding spot. "My Blainers yikes dat one."

"Blaine," Daddy said gently, turning toward the other boy, "Kurt doesn't want to watch _The Lion King_. Is it okay if we watch _Brother Bear_ instead?"

Blaine glanced around Daddy to look at Kurt. "My Kur' is okay?" he asked quietly.

"He's fine," Daddy reassured. "He just doesn't like _The Lion King_ very much."

"I know," Blaine said. He reached over to pat at Kurt's arm. "Is okay, my Kur'. I yuv you." Then, he turned to whisper in Daddy's ear, "We watch _Cind'rella_. Is his favorite."

"Would that make Kurt feel better?" Dave whispered back.

With a nod, Blaine settled back down in his seat, leaning comfortably against Daddy's arm. He picked up a grape from the plate on Daddy's lap. "Here, my Kur'. You eat a gwape?"

Kurt nodded, taking the grape from Blaine and popping it into his mouth. He watched as Daddy did a new search, clicking on _Cinderella_ when it popped up on the screen. "Not Bruvver Bear?" he asked, confused.

"I wan' watch you favorite movie," Blaine said with a smile. "You be happy." He offered another grape to Kurt.

"Fanks," Kurt murmured, settling in against Daddy as the opening scene began to play. He really did love _Cinderella_ , even though some parts of it were kinda sad.

It was fun to snuggle with his boys while they watched a movie. More than once, Dave found himself with a lap full of little boy as they wiggled and maneuvered, eating their snack and drinking their juice. Once their snack was gone, both boys laid down, pillowing their heads in Daddy's lap and holding hands with each other as they watched. Dave petted their hair, happy that they could have bonding moments like this. Though he didn't love to give his littles a lot of TV time, snuggling together was definitely one of his favorite activities.

After the movie, the boys set about trying to convince Dave to order pizza for dinner. "P'ease we has pizza, Daddy?" Blaine asked as he danced King Leo through the air. "Me an' King Yeo is hungwy for pizza!"

"Hungry for pizza, huh?" Daddy smiled, glancing at the time. It was almost 4:30. They couldn't eat yet. He decided to tease his boys. "I dunno," Daddy said. "I was going to make fish sticks and brussel sprouts for dinner."

Kurt gagged. "Ew! Daddy, no! Is yuck!"

"I think it sounds pretty good," Dave replied. He wasn't very good at this game, a smile taking over his face as soon as he'd said the words.

"Nuh! Uh!" Blaine said. "P'ease pizza?"

"What do you think, Kurt? Should we have pizza?"

"Yeah!" Kurt made Winifred jump up and down. "Pizza is yummy!"

"Well, it's too early for dinner right now. So, what should we do until it's time to eat?"

"Um, blocks?" Blaine suggested. "Me an' King Yeo p'ay smash!"

"I wanna pway Pwaydough!" Kurt begged. "P'ease, Daddy? P'ease?"

"I think we could get out the playdough," Dave relented. "What do you think, Blaine? Does Playdough sound good, or do you want to play with the blocks and your lion?" Normally, Dave was against getting out too many messy toys at once. But, they'd been good this afternoon, and Dave was ready to let them have some fun. In the end, he got out the playdough, blocks, and a few Barbies. Kurt worked on making Barbie clothes for the dolls out of playdough while Blaine ran back and forth between the blocks and the playdough, feeding King Leo whenever the lion became "hungry" from smashing too many block towers.

At around 6:30, the pizza arrived, and it was all Dave could do to get the boys to clean up their toys to eat. They were having too much fun, and it took a promise of more playtime after dinner to convince them to wash their hands and sit down at the table.

"Daddy? Wan' soda," Kurt said, sitting down in his chair.

"Sorry, sweet boy. Not tonight," Dave replied from the fridge where he was filling the boys' cups with ice water. "If you have sugar this late, you'll never go to bed."

"But, soda goes wif pizza!" he complained, pouting.

"Not tonight," Dave soothed. "Maybe some other time." He was thankful when Kurt didn't complain anymore. The boy was sulky through dinner, though, and when Blaine was done eating, Kurt refused to let him start a new game without him. Dave was beginning to wonder if Kurt and Blaine had slept or relaxed much at all before he came along. It seemed like his boys were constantly tired or grumpy about something. It was clear they had needed this for a while.

"You don' pway wifout me, Blaine," Kurt insisted as he ate another bite of sausage pizza. "You wait for me!"

"Daddy, I wanna p'ay!" Blaine whined, standing in the doorway with King Leo in hand.

"You can play. Kurt will be out to join you as soon as his tummy is full."

"No! Blaine not pway wifout me!" Kurt replied, kicking at the table.

"Kurt Elizabeth, are we going to have more problems?" Dave asked, raising an eyebrow. "I don't want a tantrum. Blaine will play with you when you're finished, but he's allowed to play while he waits."

"No!"

"Do you make the rules?" Daddy asked, folding his arms across his chest.

"No…"

"Then, I suggest you use your listening ears. Blaine, sweetheart," Dave went on, turning to the little boy, "go play. Kurt will be there in a minute or two." He smiled as Blaine scampered off excitedly, talking to King Leo as he went.

"No fair," Kurt muttered, glaring at the crust on his plate.

"Why isn't it fair?" Daddy waited for a moment, but he didn't get a response. "Why isn't it fair for Blaine to play while you finish your dinner?"

"He won' wan' me to pway acuz he started wifout me!" There were angry tears in Kurt's eyes.

"Oh, sweet boy, that's not true," Dave said, reaching out a hand to rub at Kurt's arm. "He'll play with you. And, if he won't, you and I can play a game together. We could play some more Candyland if you want to. Or, we have Operation."

That seemed to be a satisfactory answer, and Kurt finished his food, even asking for another piece before he slid out of his chair to wash his hands and play.

Just as Daddy had predicted, Blaine was delighted to play with Kurt, and the two of them spent over an hour smashing down block towers with their stuffies. Daddy loved listening to their delighted giggles as Winifred and Leo knocked down tower after tower, blocks going everywhere. Dave cleaned up the playdough while the boy's played their game. At about 8:30, he walked into the living room with the boys' sippy cups. "Drink up, please," he instructed, passing them their drinks. "Then, we need to pick up these blocks because it's time for a bath."

"Don' wanna pick up!" Blaine insisted between gulps of water. "Wanna p'ay! Is fun!"

"I'm glad you're having fun," Dave replied, "but I don't want my boys to be stinky!" He pinched his nose, waving his other hand wildly in front of his face.

"We nah smelly!" Blaine insisted.

"Not yet! But, if you keep playing without a bath, you will be. They'll be able to smell you all the way out on the street." He pointed to the closest window, waving away a fake stench again.

"Daddy, no baf!" Blaine crossed his arms over his chest and glared at Daddy.

"Blaine, yes bath," Dave replied, crossing his arms.

"No!"

"No isn't a choice right now. Your choices are picking up the blocks or going to time out."

Blaine pouted, but Kurt interrupted in a hushed voice, "Daddy?"

"Yes?"

"We takin' a baf togevver?"

"That could be arranged," Daddy replied. That had been his plan all along. He knew that baths, at least for the first little while, could be awkward for his boys. If they were together, at least they would be comfortable with each other. And, though he hoped they both trusted him enough to know he wouldn't, if they were together, they would be able to see that he hadn't done anything inappropriate with them, either.

"You has toys?" Kurt asked.

"I do," Dave agreed. "There's bath crayons and boats and two dinosaurs." He ticked the items off on his fingers.

"My Blainers," Kurt whispered, leaning over toward his husband. "We c'n pway wif baf toys."

"No. Don' wanna," Blaine insisted, still pouting.

"Pwease, my Blainers?"

Blaine shook his head. "Nuh uh."

Wordlessly, Kurt began to pick up the blocks, stuffing them back into the mesh bag that Blaine had discarded in the middle of the room before dinner.

Blaine didn't like that. "Kur', no! 'M p'ayin' wif does!" He grabbed at the one in Kurt's hands, not letting go as the other boy tried to move it toward the bag.

"Blaine, let go," Dave said, his tone clearly no-nonsense.

Blaine just shook his head. He didn't want to pick up his blocks. He wanted to play, Daddy wasn't fair, and it was not nice of Kurt to side with Daddy.

Gently, Dave reached down and manually unhooked Blaine's fingers from around the block. Then, he slid his hands under Blaine's arms and helped the boy to his feet.

"Daddy, no!" Blaine protested, trying his best to wiggle out of Dave's grip. "Wanna p'ay!"

"Well, I want to talk to you," Dave said, careful to keep his tone even. "Kurt, pick up eight more blocks then wait for me in the bathroom, please. Blaine and I will be there in a minute."

Kurt nodded. "'Kay, Daddy." Quickly, he picked up the requested blocks. Then, with a tight smile at Blaine, he headed toward the bathroom.

Meanwhile, Daddy sat down on the couch, sliding his hands down Blaine's arms to hold onto his wrists. "What's the problem, cranky boy?" he asked. "Are you sleepy again?"

"No!" Blaine bratted. "'M nah s'eepy! Jus' wanna p'ay!"

"Uh huh," Dave agreed. "I know that. But, you also know that you need to listen to Daddy, and you chose to argue with me. So, something must be bothering you."

Blaine hesitated. Did he want to tell Daddy what was wrong? Finally, he sighed, hanging his head. "My Kur' has been sad today."

Dave wasn't sure how to respond to that. He settled for a noncommittal noise, hoping that Blaine would explain. "Mmhmm."

"Building makeded Kur' happy," Blaine went on. "Don' wan' him be sad."

"What makes you think Kurt is sad?" Dave asked the question outright, wanting everything to be clear.

"Nah yikeded Yion King, nah wanted water, nah yiked c'eanin' up afore dinner," Blaine said softly, staring at Dave's hands wrapped around his wrists.

"So, you wanted to play to make Kurt happy?"

Blaine nodded. "An' acuz I yike p'ayin'! Is not fair to make us c'ean up when we is havin' fun." He pouted again.

Dave nodded. "Well, I don't think it's fair for you to yell at me or tell me 'no' when I ask you nicely to do something."

"Is vewwy nice," Blaine bratted.

"Well, I think it will be very nice for you to spend some time in timeout, then," Dave replied. He pulled Blaine to his feet and marched the very resistant boy down the hallway toward the bathroom.

"No! No timeout!" Blaine yelled, tugging against Daddy's firm hold. "I c'ean up! I be good!" Timeout was boring, and he didn't want to go to timeout. Kurt would be sad that he getted in more trouble.

"I'm sorry," Dave replied, closing the bathroom door behind him and planting Blaine in a corner. "I don't speak yelling. When you are ready to talk nicely to me, you can come out."

"Da! Ddy!" Blaine stomped his foot as he turned around to protest.

"Are you ready to talk nicely?" Dave asked, giving Blaine "The Look."

"No!"

"Then, turn yourself back around, mister," Dave replied. He put his hands on Blaine's shoulders, turning his face back toward the corner.

Blaine huffed loudly. He wanted to turn back around and stick his tongue out at Daddy, but he didn't want a spankin'. He remembered that a bath after a spankin' was not so fun.

"My Blainers in trouble?" Kurt whispered as Dave sat down on the edge of the tub, spinning the knobs to turn the water on.

"For a little bit," Dave agreed, testing the water tip with his fingers before turning to Kurt. The little boy was chewing on his bottom lip, sneaking sideways glances in Blaine's direction. "Don't worry," Daddy soothed, tapping at Kurt's bottom lip. "It's just a time out. But, please don't chew on yourself." Daddy considered asking Kurt if he wanted to undress himself but decided it would be less awkward if he didn't make a big deal about it. "Arms up," he said as he set the plug and adjusted the water temperature just a bit. "Let's get you ready for your bath."

"My Blainers grumpy?" Kurt asked as Daddy peeled off his shirt and unbuttoned his jeans. He was watching Blaine's back as the little boy stood sadly in the corner.

"A little. But, he'll be okay," Daddy said. After he'd tugged Kurt's jeans down, he helped him step out of his pants, pulling off each sock as he freed his feet. Then, he checked the water level, leaving the boy in his underwear for a moment before turning back to him. "Let's get these off and get you into this nice warm water," Daddy said, whisking Kurt's underwear down and off before helping him into the tub. "You okay?" he asked, receiving a nod before he turned toward the boy in the corner. "Blaine?" he called gently.

The sulking little boy turned around, fixing Daddy with a pout.

"Are you ready to get into the bath, monkey?" Daddy asked. He really didn't want to draw out this punishment. He felt that Blaine was probably tired and testing boundaries. And, despite his bratty attitude, he really wasn't being terribly naughty.

Blaine's gaze slipped from Daddy to Kurt who was sitting quietly in the tub, swishing the water over his feet, his knees drawn up to his chest. Slowly, he nodded, taking a few steps toward Daddy. "'M sowwy I was naughty," he whispered sadly.

"My sweet, sweet boy," Daddy crooned, pulling the pliant boy into a hug. "You're forgiven. Let's just try to use nice words with Kurt and me, hmm?"

"'Kay, Daddy," Blaine agreed. "I get inna baf now?"

"Yep! Kurt better get ready, because there's a Blaine coming in!" Daddy grinned at his boys, trying to lighten the mood. He made quick work of getting Blaine undressed and into the bath.

"Daddy! Where da baf toys?" Blaine asked, looking all around him wildly.

"I'll go get them," Dave replied. "I want both of you boys to stay on your bottoms in the tub. Don't stand up. I'll be back in just a second." After receiving a nod from both boys, Dave left, heading to the hall closet to grab the bag of bath toys.

"You okay?" Kurt whispered when Daddy had left. "Daddy spank you?"

"'M okay," Blaine reassured, patting Kurt's knee. "Daddy jus' makeded me has a timeout acuz I was maybe a yittle rude."

Kurt smiled at Blaine, happy that Daddy hadn't been mean. He didn't want his Blaine to be upset or hurt.

"Okay. Who wants dinosaurs and who wants boats?" Daddy asked as he came back into the room. He pulled the colorful toys loose from their packaging, showing them to the boys.

"Dinos," Blaine said, reaching for the two snarling t-rex figures.

"I has da boats?" Kurt asked.

"Unless you'd rather color on the walls." Dave pulled out the package of bath crayons to show to Kurt.

The boy hesitated. The bath crayons looked like fun, but he really wanted to draw. Deciding to hedge his bets and make Blaine happy, Kurt decided on the boats, pulling them out of Daddy's hand and pushing them through the water.

Dave allowed them to play for a while, smiling as he sat on the toilet lid, watching them. Blaine made up a game where the dinosaurs, which apparently lived under water, were attacking the boats, trying to take them back to their family. The dinosaurs lived on the wrecked ships, and these dinos needed new homes. When Kurt's last boat was sunk, Daddy swooped in, declaring that it was time for washing hair.

Kurt loved having his hair washed. He'd been apprehensive at first, especially since Daddy was going to use baby shampoo instead of his regular, expensive hair routine. But, Daddy's fingers felt nice against his scalp, massaging gently, and the soap made his hair feel soft. When he was done with his hair, Daddy passed him a bath crayon to draw while he washed Blaine's hair. Daddy was smart, Kurt decided. He knew how much Kurt had wanted to draw before.

Blaine already knew that having his hair washed felt nice; Daddy had gived him yots of bafs when he was little afore, but he was havin' fun p'ayin'. So, he grumbled a bit when Daddy asked him to put the dinos down. When Daddy's fingers began to run up and down his scalp, however, he sighed with contentment, deciding that abandoning his dinos had been worth it.

Then, it was time for soaping up. Daddy was fast, and in no time at all, he had two sparkling clean little boys.

"Can draw a yittle more?" Kurt asked, pointing to his half-finished art piece on the wall.

"For two more minutes," Dave agreed, sitting back on his heels. Kurt was currently drawing a mermaid, and Dave wanted to let him finish so he could snap a picture of it after their bath.

"I hewp?" Blaine asked, leaning over the edge of the tub. His short arms prevented him from reaching the bath crayons, and he pouted at Daddy, pointing at what he wanted.

"Are you okay with Blaine helping you finish your drawing?" Daddy asked Kurt, hand hovering over the crayons.

"My B'ainers can help," Kurt agreed, eager to make Blaine happy.

Together, the boys drew a blue mermaid with green hair and orange eyes. She was very detailed, much to Dave's surprise. The boys had given her scales on her lower body and tail, she had eyelashes, and they'd even drawn and colored in her fingernails. They all admired her for a moment before Daddy pulled the plug on the tub. All the water rushed out with a loud slurping sound, making both boys giggle. "Okay," Daddy announced. "Time for all clean little boys to get out of the bath and put on their brand new jammies!"

"New jammies?" Kurt asked, tilting his head to the side. "When did we get new jammies?"

"I ordered them last night; they came while you were playing after the movie this afternoon," Daddy said. "Do you want to see what I got?"

"Yeah!" Blaine cheered. Daddy was full of surprises, and even though he could be a little mean sometimes, Blaine was eager to see what Daddy had gotten for them. Surprises were fun!

"Careful," Daddy warned as Blaine stood up. "I don't want you to fall. The tub is slippery." He held onto the boy's hand as he climbed over the edge of the tub then wrapped him in a thick, warm towel before helping Kurt out as well. When they were both dry, Dave sent them to their bedroom. "Sit on the bed, and wait for me. I'll be in with your jammies in a minute."

True to his word, Dave walked in just as the boys were getting comfy on the bed, an Amazon box tucked under his arm. "I hope they fit," he muttered as he ripped open the box. "Here." He handed each boy a plastic bag to open.

"Yay!" Kurt yelled, excitement taking over his features for the first time since he'd been handed a bath crayon. He ripped into the package with gusto, taking out his jammies and holding them up in front of him. He stared at them wide-eyed for a moment before looking at Daddy. "You getted me el'phants," he whispered. "Yike Win'fred!"

"I got you elephants like Winifred," Daddy agreed. "Do you like them?"

"I yuv dem! Fank you!" Kurt wrapped Dave in a tight hug before glancing at Blaine's jammies. "My Blainers! You getted yions yike King Yeo!"

Blaine nodded happily, staring at the lion print on his jammies. "Fank you, Daddy," he murmured, smiling wide. "I yuv my Yeo jammies."

"Good. Are you ready to put them on?" Dave asked. Normally, he liked to wash new clothes before he wore them, but he figured this once, the boys would be okay.

"Yeah!" Both of them were excited, hopping up and down as Daddy grabbed fresh underwear for them from their dresser and helped them get dressed.

Kurt's jammies were red with little elephants trailing across them. His long-sleeved shirt buttoned up, and his pants were just a little too long. Well-kempt, put together, adult Kurt Hummel would never admit this out loud, but he loved his pajamas to be a little bit loose. So, these were perfect and really, really comfy. He grinned down at himself when Daddy finally got him all dressed. "Fank you," he repeated.

"You're welcome, sweet boy."

Blaine's pajamas were a little tighter, more like a hug, Blaine realized happily. They had ribbed cuffs at the ankles and wrists. The fabric was light blue with pictures of lions and lion cubs printed all over them. The fit perfectly, and Blaine immediately felt sleepy and snuggly. "Fank you, Daddy," he whispered. "I show King Yeo?"

"Wan' Win'fred!" Kurt insisted, running out the door.

"Let's go clean up the toys you left out," Daddy said, grabbing Blaine's hand as they headed toward the door. "Then, you can get King Leo, and we'll read a story before bed."

"Is too early for bed," Blaine whined, tugging at Daddy's hand. "Wanna p'ay!" He hid a yawn in the crook of his arm.

"You can play in the morning," Dave promised, voice firm. He didn't want to deal with a meltdown before bedtime, and it was obvious that Blaine was tired.

After Blaine picked up the blocks, a pout firmly on his face, Dave made sure each boy had his stuffy before he hustled them back to bed. "We'll read a story," he promised. "Go brush your teeth and use the potty. Then, we'll read."

Both boys were feeling tired now, though neither would admit it, so they did as they were told. They hurried through brushing their teeth, eager to get into their comfy bed and listen to Daddy read. He'd surprised them at naptime; who knew Dave Karofsky would be so good at reading bedtime stories? They were surprised to find Daddy sitting in the middle of their bed when they came back.

"Wha' we gonna read, Daddy?" Kurt asked as he climbed up to sit beside him. He leaned heavily against Dave's shoulder, peering at the book in his lap.

"I thought maybe we could read _The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe_ ," Daddy answered, showing Kurt the book's cover.

"A yion in da story?" Blaine asked hopefully. He yawned again and rubbed at his eyes as he snuggled against Daddy.

"There's a lion in the story," Daddy agreed. "I want you both to lay down and close your eyes while you listen." He gave each of them a kiss to their temple before helping them adjust the blanket over themselves. He couldn't help but smile; the boys were adorable when they were tired. "Once there were four children whose names were Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy," Dave began quietly. "This story is about something that happened to them when they were sent away from London during the war because of the air-raids."

Both of his boys were snoring softly by the time he reached the end of the first chapter, and he grinned at their peaceful faces. It was just bumping 10:00, and Dave could feel himself getting drowsy. He was glad they'd gone to sleep so easily. They were clearly exhausted, and a good night's rest would do them all good.

Carefully, Dave climbed out of their bed, adjusted the covers over them again, kissed them each gently on the head, and turned out the light, leaving their bedroom door open just a crack. He went back to the living room, shutting off the lights and checking that the door was locked. Finally, he was able to lay down himself, heaving a sigh of relief. Their morning had been rocky, but they'd made it through and had a mostly pleasant afternoon. All in all, he'd say their first full day together was a success. What they all needed now was some sleep. Dave wasted no time setting an alarm and snuggling down under a blanket on the couch. He was ready to sleep, and he drifted off quickly, his head full of fantasies about the things he wanted to do with his boys.

However, around two a.m., Dave heard a small, scared voice calling to him. "Daddy?"


	9. The First Weekend: Sunday

Dave almost dismissed the voice as part of his dreams until he heard it again. "Daddy? Daddy?" Then, Dave was up like a rocket, hurrying down the hallway to the boys' room. He gently pushed the door open and entered the room, finding Kurt sitting up in bed, clutching the blanket to his chest and looking toward Dave with wide eyes.

"Daddy?" he whimpered.

"I'm here, sweet boy," Dave whispered, wrapping Kurt into a tight hug. "What's the matter? Did you have a bad dream?"

Kurt sniffled. "A vewwy bad dweam." He slumped against Daddy, tired and scared.

"I'm sorry," Daddy whispered, kissing his cheek and carding his fingers lovingly through Kurt's hair. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"Wan' Win'fred," Kurt said, grabbing his stuffed elephant before wrapping his arms around Dave's neck. "Daddy carry."

"Carry you where?"

"Wan' milk." Kurt's face was buried in Dave's shoulder, so his words were a bit muffled, but, to his satisfaction, Kurt found himself being lifted and carried out of the room.

Daddy settled the two of them down onto the couch, turning Kurt so his back was against Daddy's chest, and Dave's strong arms were wrapped tightly around him. "Can you tell me about your dream?" Daddy asked softly, kissing the top of Kurt's head.

"Wan' milk," the little boy repeated. He tilted his head back to look at Daddy. "P'ease?"

"Cold milk?" Dave wasn't sure what good milk was going to do.

"No! Hot!" Kurt made a face at Daddy as if he obviously should have known that. "Wif cimmonin an' choc'yet."

"That sounds like hot coco," Dave commented. "Is that what you're asking for?"

Kurt shook his head. "No! Milk. My mommy makeded it when I hadda bad dweam."

"Will you help me?" Dave asked, at a loss. "I don't know how to make that, I guess." He felt bad; he was supposed to be able to make them feel better, and this seemed like a pretty simple request.

"I hewp," Kurt agreed, nodding. He shrugged out of Daddy's hold, sliding off the couch and grabbing one of Daddy's hands. "Come on." He tugged on Dave until they were standing in the middle of the kitchen, both of them blinking owlishly at the bright lights. "Pour milk in dis," Kurt pronounced getting out a mug and handing it to Dave.

"Okay," the man agreed. He filled the cup about three-quarters of the way full then looked at Kurt. "Now what?"

"Microwave," Kurt replied, pointing. "One."

"One minute?"

The boy nodded. "Need cimmonin an' choc'yet!"

Dave got the requested items, setting them on the counter next to the microwave. When it beeped, he pulled out the mug and carefully poured the hot liquid into Kurt's sippy cup. He didn't want to risk the little boy spilling.

"Now mix," Kurt commanded, watching as Daddy poured in a little bit of cinnamon and half a packet of hot chocolate mix.

"Is that right?" Dave asked as he stirred. He wanted to be sure he didn't ruin it. This was clearly something Kurt felt like he needed.

"Uh huh," Kurt replied behind a yawn. "Now, I dwink it."

"Okay," Dave chuckled. He put the lid on the sippy cup, handing it over to the boy and leading him back to the couch. When they were again snuggled up together, Kurt's back to Daddy's chest, Daddy kissed the top of his boy's head. "I'm sorry I didn't know how to make that," he whispered.

"Is otay," Kurt murmured, patting at Daddy's arm. "I hewp you."

"Then, let me help you now," Dave replied. "Can you tell me what happened in your bad dream?"

Kurt shrunk in on himself a bit, sipping at his milk for a moment before he replied. "My B'ainers getted mad at me 'gain."

Dave pursed his lips. This seemed to be a recurring problem. "Why was he mad?" he asked.

"I was a meany…"

"I see. What happened?" For a moment, Dave didn't think that Kurt was going to answer. The boy took several long drinks of his warm milk before turning into Daddy's chest, hiding his face.

"I was big…" he mumbled, taking his time. "An' I calleded my B'ainers mean names, and I yelleded at him…" There was a pregnant pause before he whispered, "I makeded him cry…"

Dave wasn't sure what to say. This seemed like something the boys needed to talk about together, a marriage problem that he wasn't sure he could solve. He needed time to think, so he rubbed one hand up and down Kurt's back, humming lightly to him as he rocked them, his other hand combing through Kurt's hair. Finally, he asked, "Kurt, did this happen in real life?"

Kurt froze for a second before he relaxed against Dave again. "Not 'xac'ly…"

"What does that mean?"

"Well, Blainers and me...we fights sometimes." Kurt's voice was soft, unsure. He wanted to tell Daddy, though. Maybe telling would make it easier.

"Go on," Dave prompted softly.

"Sometimes, I yell or say mean fings, but I has never makeded Blainers cry afore. I always say sowwy, and we hug."

"Do you fight a lot?"

Kurt shrugged. "Sometimes."

"Hmmm," Dave said softly. "Do you know what I think?"

"Wha'?" Kurt asked, turning a bit so he could look at Daddy.

"I think that it's very important to remember that Blaine loves you. Sometimes you guys might fight and you might say stuff you don't mean. But, if you tell each other that you're sorry and hug, that means that you love each other. And, when you love someone, you can get through anything."

Silence prevailed for a few minutes. Kurt sat with his sippy cup, taking small drinks and leaning against Daddy, enjoying the way Daddy's hand ran through his hair. He was thinking about what Daddy had said, about him and Blaine loving each other. Daddy was smart. If he thought that Blaine loved him, even when he was a meany, then he would believe Daddy.

Dave was just about to say something when he heard the soft sounds of feet against carpet.

"Daddy?" Blaine asked, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

"What are you doing up, monkey?" Daddy asked, opening an arm to Blaine for a hug. "You're supposed to be sleeping."

"Why is you 'n my Kur' up?" the boy mumbled as he leaned into Daddy. He was sleepy, but he didn't like being in bed by himself.

"Kurt just had a bad dream. We were talking about it and having some warm milk to help him get back to sleep." He rubbed his hand soothingly up and down Blaine's back. "Did you have a bad dream, too?"

Blaine shook his head. "Nuh uh. I wakeded up, an' I was aww ayone."

"I'm sorry," Daddy apologized. "You can go back and lay down. Kurt and I will be there in a minute."

Instead of listening, however, Blaine knelt on the floor by the couch and touched Kurt lightly on the arm.

Kurt, who'd been hiding his face against Daddy, peeked out to look at Blaine.

"My Kur', you is okay?" Blaine asked softly, touching Kurt's cheek lightly with his fingertips.

His head barely moved, but Kurt nodded. "'M 'kay now," he whispered. "Daddy helpeded."

"You was scared?"

"Yeah…"

"Why?"

"Acuz I hadda bad dweam."

Blaine smiled softly at Kurt, leaning in to kiss his knuckles. "Is otay now, my Kur'. Me an' Daddy is here. An' we yuv you."

"See?" Dave murmured. "He does love you."

"Always," Blaine insisted. "You an' Daddy."

Kurt smiled, feeling much better now. Daddy was right. "Hug?" he asked. When only Blaine leaned in, the boy insisted, "Daddy, too!"

"Okay. Okay," Dave agreed, wrapping his arms tightly around his boys. They shared a long hug before finally pulling away. "Now, it's time that all little boys get back into bed," Dave said. "It's the middle of the night, and we're all exhausted." He waited until Blaine was on his feet and Kurt had slid off the couch before he rose, taking each of them by the hand. He tucked them into bed tightly, kissed each of them on the temple, and turned off the light. "Sleep well, sweet boys. I'll see you in the morning." Then, he tiptoed down the hallway and put himself back to bed.

In the dark in their room, Blaine reached across the bed for Kurt's hand. He tugged at it gently. "Come 'ere," he whispered.

Kurt slid closer, snuggling into Blaine's side. "We're apposed to be s'eepin'. Daddy said."

"You sure you is okay?"

"Yeah. I gotted scared that you was mad at me, but Daddy fixeded it."

"Why I be mad at you?"

"When we is big, I is nah ahways nice to you."

Blaine was quiet for a minute, rubbing his thumb lightly across Kurt's knuckles. Finally, he said, "Is okay, my Kur' acuz I yuv you, even when you is kinda mean."

Kurt squeezed Blaine tightly. "Fanks. I yuv you, too."

Closing his eyes, Blaine sighed contentedly. It was nice to snuggle with Kurt. "I fink Daddy is he'pin'," he whispered into the dark. "We need him."

Nodding against Blaine's chest, Kurt whispered, "I fink so, too."

The next morning, the boys woke up in a much better mood than they had been in the day before. Of course, they woke up late after their midnight rendezvous, and to their delight, Daddy was still asleep on the couch. He'd turned off his alarm in favor of getting some more sleep, and the boys took it upon themselves to be his alarm clock, right after they made a quick trip to the kitchen.

"Daddy," Blaine whispered in his ear, giving him a kiss on the cheek. "Wake up, Daddy. Is time for bre'fest for me an' my Kur'!" He kissed him again, making a loud smooching sound against Dave's cheek.

"Wha' time is it?" Dave asked groggily, his eyes fluttering open.

"Is time to get up, Daddy," Kurt said, grinning. "Come on!" He tugged on Dave's hand.

"Hold on a second," Dave replied, yawning widely. "Give me a minute to wake up, please." He sat up slowly, stretching his limbs and wiping the sleep from his eyes. "You guys are in a good mood," he observed, watching his two boys bounce excitedly on their toes in front of him.

"Wan' food!" Blaine announced, pointing towards the kitchen. "Daddy, wan' food!"

"An' juice!" Kurt declared, hopping a little bit. "Yots and yots of yummy juice!"

"Well, let's see what we can do about the juice," Dave replied, standing and stretching again before following the boys into the kitchen. "What do you want for breakfast?" He was shocked when he looked at the oven clock and realized that it was already after 10 a.m. "Why did I sleep so late?" he muttered under his breath.

"'M sorry, Daddy," Kurt mumbled, wrapping him in a tight hug. "I wakeded you up, an' den you sweepeded yate." He hung his head. "I wiww take a nap yater…"

"Oh, sweet boy. Don't feel bad about waking me up. That's what you're supposed to do when you have a bad dream." Daddy squeezed Kurt back. "And, you will take a nap later, but not because you are being punished. Just because you and Blaine need some extra sleep."

"Kay, Daddy," Kurt said. "We has juice now?"

"Sure. What kind of juice do you want?"

"Appwe! Appwe!" Kurt was hopping up and down again, guilt over waking Daddy up gone.

"Gwape!" Blaine insisted, tugging at Daddy's shirt. "Pwease gwape?"

"Okay. Everyone hold onto their britches for a minute," Dave said, grinning as he got out clean sippy cups for the boys. He got out both juices and filled each with its requested juice. "Here, crazy boys," he said, passing the cups off to Kurt and Blaine who were still bouncing around excitedly. "Not that you really need any sugar, apparently." He smiled, watching his boys as they slurped down their juice. "What do you want for breakfast?"

"Waffles! Pancakes! Fwench Toast! Scwambled eggs!" The boys threw out ideas one after the other.

"Woah. That's a lot of ideas." Dave shook his head. He wondered what had put his boys in such a good mood. Not that he minded. He was glad they were happy and upbeat. It was a wonderful improvement over their quick-to-crab attitudes from yesterday, and this was their last day together. He had to go home that night. Dave shook his head, clearing the thought from his mind. He didn't have time to think about that. Right now, he needed to make his hungry boys breakfast. "How about French Toast?" he asked. "Is that okay with both of you?"

He got two loud whoops in response. "Daddy, wanna run!" Blaine said. "Or, dance! We yisten music?"

"I build?" Kurt asked, bouncing behind Blaine.

"Of course. Let's go to the living room," Daddy said, following along behind the boys who were already racing ahead of him. "Can you boys take a chill pill, please?" Dave asked. "I know you're happy this morning, but I'd really prefer you didn't run through the house."

"Sowwy, Daddy!" the boys said in unison.

"You're forgiven, of course," Dave replied. "Just try to settle down a little." He set up the music on the iPod, selecting a dancing playlist to help run off some of the boys' energy. "Have fun, my boys. I'll be in the kitchen if you need me." He smiled at them, heading back toward the kitchen.

"Daddy! My bwocks!"

"Oh! I almost forgot," Dave replied, taking a detour to the closet to grab the bag of soft blocks. "Please make sure these don't go all over the place," he said as he passed over the bag.

"'Kay!" Kurt shouted, running back to Blaine in the living room. "Yook, my Blainers!"

Dave shook his head, going back to the kitchen. The music was a little louder than he'd normally set it, but he wanted to wear them out a bit. He'd have a terrible time getting them to take a nap if they were still this wild by lunch time. As he tried to think of a plan, Dave pulled out the milk and eggs from the fridge. He opened a few cabinets until he found a bowl. Then, he broke a few eggs, walking the egg shells over to the trash can. When he lifted the lid, he froze, gazing at the top layer of trash.

Candy wrappers. Dozens of candy wrappers from mini chocolate bars filled the can, completely covering their paper plates from the pizza the night before. Well, that explained a lot. Gently, Dave put the egg shells on the counter and took the lid completely off of the can. Then, he went to the living room, his earlier smile completely gone. Instead of saying anything to the boys, Daddy made a beeline to the iPod, shutting off the music.

"Da-ddy! Was yistenin' to dat!" Blaine complained, bouncing up to him.

"Mhm," Dave replied, not amused. "Could you and Kurt come into the kitchen for a minute, please?" He tried to keep his voice calm, but he was afraid there was a hint of anger in it.

"Why?" Kurt asked from his spot on the floor.

"I think you know why," Daddy responded, grabbing Blaine by the wrist. "Come on." He held out a hand to Kurt.

At being grabbed, Blaine's eyes got big, and he looked at Kurt with concern and a bit of fear in his eyes. He wondered if Daddy knew what they'd done before waking him up.

"I-I fink I stay an' buiwd," Kurt said, sitting down a little firmer on his bottom. "You talk wif my Blainers."

Blaine shot him a dirty look, confessing everything before he and Daddy had even reached the kitchen. "Me an' my Kur' eated yots of candy afore we wakeded you up, an' 'm sowwy, Daddy! Sowwy!" He pulled back against Daddy's grip until he had stopped them from marching into the kitchen. "P'ease no spankin'," he whimpered. "'M sowwy."

"I'm not going to spank you," Daddy replied. He sighed loudly. Why did their morning have to start off like this? "We do need to sit down and talk about this, though," he said. "That includes you, Kurt."

"We sit onna couch?" Blaine asked, hopeful.

"If you'll sit and listen," Dave agreed. "Kurt," he prompted, "please put the blocks down and come sit on the couch so we can talk." Daddy let go of Blaine's hand and followed him to the couch. He took one end, and his boys took the other, snuggling together as they stared at Daddy.

Daddy took a deep breath. He needed to get a grip so he could deal with this rationally. "You don't have to be afraid of me," he said softly, sad that he even needed to say that. "You're not in big trouble. I just...I just want to know why you had so much candy this morning." Dave hung his head, upset at this turn of events.

"Daddy?" Kurt asked, leaning forward to tap on Daddy's hand. "You sad?"

"A little," Dave admitted.

"Why?"

"I was looking forward to having a nice morning. Then, I found out that you guys ate a bunch of candy, but instead of talking to me, you're scared."

"No," Kurt replied, shaking his head vigorously. "Nah scared of you. You is nice, Daddy."

"Thank you, sweet boy."

"Yeah," Blaine piped up, leaning forward to brush his hand lightly across Dave's arm. "Nah scawwy. Jus' sad?"

"You're sad?" Dave was confused.

Blaine nodded. "Uh huh. Eated yots and yots of candy…"

"Can you tell me why?"

Kurt shrugged, looking at Blaine for a moment before he answered. "We was hungwy, Daddy."

"So, why didn't you wake me up? I would have made you breakfast or gotten you a snack."

"Wanted to yet you s'eep. You was s'eepy acuz I wakeded you up," Kurt whispered, guilty.

An immediate spark of pain zapped through Dave's heart at seeing Kurt feeling so badly. "Kurt, can you come here, please?" he asked softly, holding out his arms to the boy. "I want to explain something to you and give you a hug." Daddy was being careful; despite what they said, he wanted to be sure that his boys were not afraid of him.

Kurt rose quickly and ran into Daddy's arms, eager for a hug. He was feeling very guilty, and he wanted it to go away.

Daddy rubbed his back for a moment before he gently pushed Kurt away, holding onto both of his hands and looking into his eyes. His voice took on a firm tone as he said, "You are supposed to wake me up when you have a nightmare. That's what I'm here for. My job is to take care of you." Quieting, he went on. "It's okay if I don't always get enough sleep. You don't have to feel guilty. I want to make you feel better." He paused, reaching for Blaine with his right hand.

The curly-haired boy scooted closer, grabbing onto Daddy's hand.

Voice barely above a whisper, Daddy said, "I like to take care of you boys. I like that you need me and want me to help you. I am never ever going to be upset if you wake me up because you have a nightmare, or you just need to talk. And, if we've been up late one night because you had a nightmare or needed to talk, I will never be mad if you're hungry and need me to make breakfast. You may not always get exactly what you want, but I want you to feel like you can ask me for anything. Does that make sense?" He looked at each of his boys in turn, waiting for their nods of understanding. Then, he cleared his throat. "Now, about the candy..." he began.

"Daddy, 'm sowwy we eated so much tandy," Kurt said. "I pwomise nada do it 'gain."

"Me, too, Daddy," Blaine piped up. "'M sowwy."

"Well, I'm happy to hear that," Daddy replied. "But, I can't just let you eat candy whenever you want. I think we need to do something about it."

"Yike what?" Blaine whispered, nervous.

"Well, for starters, I think a timeout might be in order," Dave said. "And, maybe some lines."

"Daaaaaaaddyyyyyyyy," Blaine whined. "Don' yike timeout."

"No yines," Kurt agreed. "No fun."

"Punishment isn't supposed to be fun," Daddy reminded them. "And, are you in charge?"

"No," they both grumbled. Daddy was being mean!

"That's right," Dave agreed, ignoring the pouts. "I'm in charge. So, while I make French Toast, you're going to sit in timeout. Then, after breakfast, you'll do your lines, and we can have fun again. But, first, I want to check on you." He put a hand against each of their foreheads. "Are you feeling okay? No upset tummies or headaches?"

Both boys shook their heads. "Me an' my Blainers is okay, Daddy," Kurt said solemnly. He couldn't bear the thought of one of them feeling icky. It had been his idea, after all, to eat chocolate instead of waking up Daddy when Blaine was hungry.

"Blaine? You're sure?" Dave asked. He knew Blaine had a sensitive belly sometimes. If anyone was going to wind up with a tummy ache, it would he him. Especially after all that juice.

Blaine nodded. "'M otay."

"Make sure you tell me if you start to feel icky, okay?" Dave said. "I don't want either of my boys to have an upset tummy, but if you do, I want you to make sure you tell me. I won't be mad; I just want to make sure you're taken care of." When he got a nod from both of them, he brushed their hair back and kissed each of their foreheads. "Time out," he said softly, pointing to the corners they'd been in the day before. "Go, please. You may sit on your bottoms, but I want you to stay facing the wall."

"Do we gotta?" Kurt whined.

"Yes," Daddy ordered. "Time out isn't supposed to be fun."

"Can has King Yeo?" Blaine asked, giving Daddy his best puppy eyes.

"Not right now. No toys in timeout. Go now before I decide that timeout isn't good enough." Daddy pointed to the corners again, watching as his boys slowly slunk to their spots. He sighed. They'd had far too many timeouts this weekend. He was going to have to think of other ways to curb their behavior.

Dave set about making French Toast, making far less than he'd originally planned. He didn't want to upset tummies by filling them too full, and he certainly wasn't going to give them very much syrup. They'd had enough sugar that morning to last them a month.

In the middle of grilling the toast, he heard a soft moan come from one of the corners. Someone wasn't feeling well, and Daddy suspected he knew who it was. "Blaine?" he called. "You okay?"

"Tummy..." Blaine whined. "Hurts…"

Dave sighed softly, even though he'd been expecting this. Then, he called, "Okay, monkey. Go lay on the couch for me. Daddy will bring you something to help you feel better. Kurt," he said, stepping closer to the boy, "you can come out, too. Is your tummy okay?"

"Yeah. My head hurts." He leaned his head against his palms.

"Okay," Daddy soothed. "We'll get you fixed up, too." He led Kurt over to the couch where Blaine was already curled up on Dave's pillow, his blanket thrown haphazardly over him. Daddy helped Kurt settle down beside Blaine's feet, pulling another blanket over Kurt's lap. "I'll be right back," he promised.

Well, the French Toast was all for him, Dave supposed as he walked back into the kitchen. He flipped it quickly then popped two pieces of bread into the toaster. He filled two mugs with water, heating it in the microwave, and fished around in their cabinets until he came up with two peppermint tea packets. Then, he dug into his own overnight bag for peppermint oil. When the tea was done, Daddy carried all his supplies out to his sick boys.

"Nooo," Blaine whined when Daddy tried to hand him his sippy cup. "Nah firsty. My tummy hurrrrrts."

"This will help it feel better," Dave said gently, holding the cups out to the boys. "There's hot peppermint tea in there, so I want you to be careful." Then, he handed each of them a piece of dark toast. "I want you to nibble on this toast," he instructed. When each of the boys opened their mouths to protest, Daddy went on, "No, it's not burnt. It's just very dark because that will help your tummies." Once the boys had taken the toast, he grabbed the bottle of peppermint oil. "Kurt," he said, "I'm going to rub some of this on your forehead to help with your headache. It's going to make your head feel cold and tingly." He opened the bottle and got a drop on his finger, smearing the oil across Kurt's forehead from temple to temple.

"Daddy?" Blaine asked, tugging at his shirt. "Me, too?" He wasn't sure that he so much needed the peppermint oil, but he wanted his head to feel cold and tingly. Plus, it was no fair for Kurt to get peppermint oil wifout him.

"Do you have a headache?" Dave asked.

"A yittle one?" Blaine whispered. His head did hurt a bit, so it wasn't technically a lie.

"You, too, then, monkey."

Blaine smiled as Daddy rubbed peppermint oil across his head, sinking back into the pillow when he'd finished. He didn't feel any better, but he liked Daddy taking care of him.

"Blaine, I need you to sit up," Daddy instructed. "You can't drink tea or eat toast laying down."

"Don' wanna," the curly-haired boy whined.

"I'm terribly sorry, but laying down isn't a choice right now," Daddy reminded him, helping him to sit up. "I need to go get my breakfast," he said once he was sure that the boys were settled. "I'll be right back."

"My Blainers," Kurt said softly after Daddy had left. "Dis tea is yummy. You dwink it?"

"I don' yike tea," Blaine replied. "An' I don' yike burneded toast!"

"Daddy says is not burneded," Kurt explained. "An' you might yike da tea. Try it!"

"Don' wanna!"

"P'ease?" Kurt tried, taking a sip of his own tea and a small bite of his toast. "Is makin' me feel better. Honest."

Blaine glared at his cup and toast. He didn't want them. But, he did feel really icky, and Daddy had sayed they would help. Now, his Kur' was sayin' it, too. Slowly, with a pout on his face, Blaine took a small bite of his toast and took a small sip of his tea. To his surprise, he did like it, and he smiled at Kurt as he swallowed it down. "Is yummy tea," he said. "You was right, my Kur'!"

"Course I was," Kurt said triumphantly as Daddy came back into the room with his plate of French Toast, slightly overdone, and a cup of coffee.

"What was Kurt right about?" Daddy asked, sitting in the recliner by the couch.

"My Blainers did nah wanna try da tea," Kurt explained before taking another bite. "But, I telleded him was yummy an' den' he yiked it!"

"You do like the tea?" Daddy asked Blaine, taking a bite. "Is it helping your tummy?"

"I fink so?" Blaine replied, more a question than a statement. "Don' yike da toast." He crinkled his nose in disgust.

"You're not really supposed to. It's just supposed to make your upset tummy feel better," Dave replied. "Kurt, how's your head?"

"Still hurty," Kurt replied, pouting. "But is startin' to feew cold!"

"Give it time," Dave replied. "Peppermint oil isn't magic."

"Daddy? Tan we watch a movie?" Blaine asked. "Wanna watch Yady an' a Twamp."

"Yeah! Meatballs!" Kurt cheered, wincing when the noise made his head hurt worse. "But, nah too youd," he whispered. "My head is owwy."

"I suppose we can watch something," Dave agreed. "Just until you feel better." He hadn't really wanted to give the boys more screen time that day. They had watched plenty of TV already, and he'd wanted to spend the day playing with them before he helped them age back up. However, they weren't going to be doing any playing with upset tummies. So, Dave turned on Disney Plus and found _Lady and the Tramp_. Quietly, he finished his breakfast during the opening scene, then sat on the couch with the boys while they watched. It wasn't long before they were both snuggled up against him, heads leaning heavily against his shoulders. By the time the movie was over, it was almost noon. "How do you feel, sweet boys?" Daddy asked, kissing the top of each head.

"Shhh, Daddy," Kurt instructed, peeking around Dave. "My B'ainers is s'eepin'."

Dave glanced down at Blaine. He was, in fact, asleep. "Oh, I'm sorry," Dave whispered. "How's your head?"

"Is better," Kurt said.

"All better or just a little better?" Daddy wanted to know.

"Um, a'most all better?" Kurt replied. "Is still a yittle hurty."

"Let's put on some more peppermint oil, then," Daddy told him. "Can you reach the bottle for me?"

Kurt nodded, leaning forward to snag the small bottle off of the coffee table. "Daddy?" he whispered. "Me an' my Blainers gots to do yines still?"

"No," Dave answered as he rubbed a line of oil across Kurt's forehead. "I think upset tummies and headaches are enough punishment. Don't you?"

"Uh huh," Kurt responded. "Won' never ever eated dat much candy 'gain."

"I hope not," Dave said. "I don't like when my sweet little boys don't feel well."

Kurt snuggled back in against Daddy. "What we do now?" he whispered.

"Are you hungry?" Dave asked. "Do you want some lunch?"

"No fank you," Kurt replied. "My tummy is still all filleded up."

"Then, how about a nap?" Daddy said. "I'm tired, and Blaine is, too. Are you sleepy?"

"I s'eep on you?" Kurt asked. He really didn't want to go to bed. Daddy was warm and comfy, and he liked leaning against him.

"Are you sure you don't want to go to your bed? You might sleep better all tucked in under your blankets."

"Nuh uh! Wanna be wif you an' my Blainers," Kurt replied. "You read me?"

"I can read you a quick story," Dave replied. "But, you have to close your eyes. I want you to get some rest."

Kurt nodded. "'Kay, Daddy. Pwomise."

"Alright," Daddy agreed, opening his Kindle app. Quickly, he downloaded _The Giving Tree_ by Shel Silverstein and began to read. "Once there was a tree…" By the time he was finished with the story, Kurt was snoring softly against him.

Dave wiggled just a bit, careful not to wake the boys, until he was comfortable. Then, he shut his eyes and leaned his head against the back of the couch. A gentle sigh escaped his lips. He didn't want to think about what he had to do in a few hours. He knew that leaving his boys was going to be torture, so he tried to focused on how wonderful it felt to have them both sleeping against him as he drifted off to sleep.

Daddy awoke again around 2 p.m. to hushed murmuring. "Yet Daddy s'eep," he heard Blaine hiss. "We was naughty afore an' makeded him s'eepy!"

"But, Daddy sayed to wake him up if we neeeeed him," Kurt wheedled. "An' I is hungwy, my Blainers."

"Who's hungry?" Daddy asked, pretending to just be waking up. He stretched and yawned loudly.

"Why you wakeded him up?" Blaine asked, grumpy. "Was 'posed to yet him s'eep!"

"No. If Kurt's hungry, it's okay to wake me up," Dave reprimanded gently. He kissed Blaine's cheek. "Didn't you hear me say that this morning?"

"Yes! Was jus' tryin'a be nice, Daddy."

"I appreciate that. But, I want to take care of my boys, okay?" He kissed Kurt's cheek next, asking, "Are you both feeling better?"

"All better," Kurt sang, clearly in a better mood after his nap.

"My tummy is gooder," Blaine agreed.

"I'm so glad," Dave replied. He silently wondered if the reason Blaine was grumpy was because of their weekend's impending end. "Tell you what, how about you boys play with your blocks for a little bit while I make us a late lunch. Does that sound good?"

"What makin'?" Blaine asked.

"Chicken noodle soup. It's good for little boys who recently had icky tummies."

"Yum!" Kurt answered, already on the floor with the blocks. "My Blainers, come and p'ay! Is fun!" He handed the other boy a block.

"Otay," Blaine agreed, sliding off the couch. "We buiwd a castle for King Yeo?"

Dave smiled at his boys, listening for a moment as they decided on the rules for their game before getting up to go to the kitchen. He was going to miss this, and he wondered how long it would be before they would want him to come back.

He didn't have to wait long to find out. After their late lunch and a few games of Candyland, Dave began the process of helping his boys age back up. It was almost time for him to go back home.

Since they'd never bothered to change out of their pajamas, Dave took them back to their rooms to pick out new outfits. He tried not to help too much, leaving as much of the clothing selection up to them as he could. He didn't help them dress, either, as much as it killed him. They had to get back to doing things on their own before he left, and this was a good place to start.

Once they were back in their normal, big boy clothes, Dave gave them chores to do. He started with simple things at first, like watering the plants and wiping the kitchen counter. As they worked, their tasks became increasingly more complex until they were all working to clean the apartment together. None of them felt like talking; it was a little bit awkward and a little bit sad, their mixed emotions hanging heavy in the air.

Finally, once all of Dave's stuff was sitting in a neat pile by the door, including Kurt's Cinderella coloring page, Kurt poured them all a glass of water, and they stood together in silence, sipping their drinks and waiting for someone to speak.

It was Blaine who finally broke the silence. "Thanks for coming over, Dave," he said, his sentence feeling almost meaningless; words weren't adequate enough to express how much he and Kurt appreciated the other man. "It helped. Really."

"Good. I'm glad," Dave replied. "It helped me, too."

"Um, sorry about the chocolate this morning," Kurt said softly. "We shouldn't hav-"

Dave held up a hand. "It's my job to take care of you. There's nothing to be sorry for."

Silence prevailed again, and Dave decided that was his sign to leave. "I'm going to head home," he said, setting his glass down on the counter. "I've got work tomorrow, and the two of you likely have homework."

The boys followed him to the door, not saying anything as he picked up his overnight bag. With his hand on the door handle, Dave turned to say goodbye. He, instead, found himself with an armful of Kurt.

"Thank you," the tall boy breathed into his ear as he squeezed Dave tightly. "You'll come back, right?" He leaned back, searching Dave's eyes for an answer.

"I'll come whenever you want me to," Dave promised.

"Will you come back next Friday?" Kurt's words came out in a rush, eager to get out what he wanted to say. "Neither of us have class on Friday, and the next week is spring break. Do- do you think you could stay with us for spring break?" There was almost a hint of pleading in Kurt's tone.

Dave was surprised but also ridiculously happy. He tried not to let his exuberance show too much. "I think so," he replied. Calculating in his head, he said, "You're sure you want to do this for 10 days straight? That can be a lo-"

"We're sure," Blaine cut in. "We really want to if you have time."

"I'll have to work something out with my job, but I'm sure it will be fine. I can make it work."

"Thank you." Kurt's eyes were misty as he pulled Dave into another hug. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" His voice sounded sad and wet in Dave's ear.

"You're welcome," Dave grinned, hugging Blaine tightly, too. This was better than any news he'd ever hoped for. An entire 10 days with his boys. He couldn't wait for Friday!

After another quick round of goodbyes, Dave took the elevator back to the ground level, climbed into his car, and drove home with a huge grin on his face. He was going to be Daddy again, and he absolutely couldn't wait. His smile only grew bigger when he checked his phone after parking at his apartment.

"Come Thursday night at 5 if you can."

Dave texted back, "I'll be there!" Then, he climbed out of his car, dancing a tiny happy dance as he retrieved his stuff from his car. Thursday couldn't come fast enough. Dave was already stoked. Eleven days with his boys sounded like pure heaven, and he was going to make it as perfect for them as he could!


End file.
